Britain and EU need to agree 'no-deal Brexit' within weeks to avoid hard border: Irish PM

Britain and the European Union would need to agree a "no-deal deal" on customs and regulations within weeks of a hard Brexit to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday.

"It is my view that if we did end up in a no-deal situation, we would find ourselves having to negotiate a no-deal deal quite soon thereafter," Varadkar told parliament, saying a hard Brexit might not last more than a few weeks.

"We would have to come up with some sort of a deal around regulations and customs to avoid a hard border; so the UK could honour its obligations as a member of the WTO; so that we could continue to honour our obligations as an EU member," he said.