Jacob Rees-Mogg has sparked anger after footage from 2016 in which he calls for people to be “inspected” crossing the Irish border after Brexit in the same way as “during the Troubles” has come to light.

The Irish deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, attacked the “ill-informed” comment, saying on Twitter: “We have left ‘the Troubles’ behind us, through the sincere efforts of many, and we intend on keeping it that way.”

And Lord Deben, the former Conservative cabinet minister, said: “Mr Rees-Mogg seems utterly unable to understand how dangerous and irresponsible are his views.

“Nothing must get in the way of his doctrinal determination to get UK out of the EU; neither current facts nor historical reality; neither sense nor sensitivity.”

Theresa May has promised to prevent a return to border posts and checks at the Irish border, but her proposals for future trade and customs with the EU have been rejected by Brussels.

Alarm has continued to grow – with the rising threat of a no-deal Brexit – and police chiefs have warned of the return of terrorism if there is a hard border.

But, speaking in a debate on the referendum at the University of Sussex in April 2016, Mr Rees-Mogg suggested bringing back “historic arrangements” to avoid a loophole that would allow people to get into the UK.

“There would be our ability, as we had during the Troubles, to have people inspected,” said the leading hard Brexiteer.

Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Show all 15 1 /15 Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An abandoned shop is seen in Mullan, Co Monaghan. The building was home to four families who left during the Troubles. The town was largely abandoned after the hard border was put in place during the conflict. Mullan has seen some regeneration in recent years, but faces an uncertain future with Brexit on the horizon Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A defaced ‘Welcome to Northern Ireland’ sign stands on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Mervyn Johnson owns a garage in the border town of Pettigo, which straddles the counties of Donegal and Fermanagh. ‘I’ve been here since 1956, it was a bit of a problem for a few years. My premises has been blown up about six or seven times, we just kept building and starting again,’ Johnson said laughing. ‘We just got used to it [the hard border] really but now that it’s gone, we wouldn't like it back again’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Farmer Gordon Crockett’s Coshquin farm straddles both Derry/Londonderry in the North and Donegal in the Republic. ‘At the minute there is no real problem, you can cross the border as free as you want. We could cross it six or eight times a day,’ said Crockett. ‘If there was any sort of obstruction it would slow down our work every day’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures John Murphy flies the European flag outside his home near the border village of Forkhill, Co Armagh Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Potter Brenda McGinn stands outside her Mullan, Co Monaghan, studio – the former Jas Boylan shoe factory which was the main employer in the area until it shut down due to the Troubles. ‘When I came back, this would have been somewhere you would have driven through and have been quite sad. It was a decrepit looking village,’ said McGinn, whose Busy Bee Ceramics is one of a handful of enterprises restoring life to the community. ‘Now this is a revitalised, old hidden village’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Union Flag colours painted on kerbstones and bus-stops along the border village of Newbuildings, Co Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Grass reflected in Lattone Lough, which is split by the border between Cavan and Fermanagh, seen from near Ballinacor, Northern Ireland Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Donegalman David McClintock sits in the Border Cafe in the village of Muff, which straddles Donegal and Derry/Londonderry Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures An old Irish phone box stands alongside a bus stop in the border town of Glaslough, Co Monaghan Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Billboards are viewed from inside a disused customs hut in Carrickcarnon, Co Down, on the border with Co Louth in the Republic Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Seamus McQuaid takes packages that locals on the Irish side of the border have delivered to his business, McQuaid Auto-Parts, to save money on postal fees, near the Co Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler. ‘I live in the south but the business is in the North,’ said McQaid. "I wholesale into the Republic of Ireland so if there’s duty, I’ll have to set up a company 200 yards up the road to sell to my customers. I’ll have to bring the same product in through Dublin instead of Belfast’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A disused Great Northern Railway line and station that was for customs and excise on the border town of Glenfarne, Co Leitrim Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures Alice Mullen, from Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland, does her shopping at a former customs post on the border in Middletown, Co Armagh. ‘I’d be very worried if it was a hard border, I remember when people were divided. I would be very afraid of the threat to the peace process, it was a dreadful time to live through. Even to go to mass on a Sunday, you’d have to go through checkpoints. It is terribly stressful,’ said Mullen. ‘All those barricades and boundaries were pulled down. I see it as a huge big exercise of trust and I do believe everyone breathed a sigh of relief’ Reuters Brexit threatens life on the Irish border: in pictures A bus stop and red post box stand in the border town of Jonesborough, Co Armagh Reuters

“It’s not a border that everyone has to go through every day. But, of course, for security reasons during the Troubles, we kept a very close eye on the border to try and stop gun-running and things like that.

“It’s not inconsistent to have a border that people can pass through but you are keeping an eye on.”

Mr Coveney highlighted the clip on Twitter, saying: “It’s hard to believe that a senior politician is so ill informed about Ireland and the politics of the Brexit Irish border issue that he could make comments like these.”

Lord Adonis, the former Labour cabinet minister and anti-Brexit campaigner, tweeted: “Last month he said the answer was for Ireland to leave the EU too. Despicable. Irresponsible. Very sad.”

Tory supporters of a hard Brexit have repeatedly been criticised for suggesting it is not the UK’s responsibility to avoid the return of a hard border in Ireland.

The position has enraged the Irish government, which has secured the EU’s backing that a return to border posts and checks must be prevented at all costs.

Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, has attempted to ease tensions by saying the EU is “ready to improve the text of our proposal with the UK”.

However, he is expected to stick to the proposal of effectively keeping Northern Ireland in the customs union and part of the single market, if no other solution can be found.

Ms May has ruled that out as unacceptable because it would be “annexing” part of the UK, by creating a border down the Irish Sea.