Ireland's Finmin vows to minimize friction in trade over no-deal scenario

Ireland will aim to ensure there is as little friction as possible in trade across its border with British-ruled Northern Ireland if Britain crashes out of the European Union without a deal, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said on Tuesday.

"What we would want to do is be in a position where we have as low friction trade as is possible in the kind of scenario you are describing," Donohoe told a parliamentary committee when asked how Brussels would facilitate Ireland's wish to have no physical border infrastructure, even in a no-deal scenario.

"The whole reason we want a backstop in the first place is to avoid being in the scenario of a risk to the movement of goods on our island. If we are in the situation of a disorderly Brexit and we don't have a backstop, there will be tradeoffs and choices that have to be made regarding how that issue will be dealt with."