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A British think tank founder has said the UK should "bribe or threaten" the Republic of Ireland to drop its opposition to the border backstop.

Alan Mendoza, founder and executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, appeared on BBC's Politics Live today.

Turning to the subject of Brexit and the border backstop in Northern Ireland, he said: "One of the best things I've seen recently is the idea that you don't go to Brussels but you go instead to Dublin, and you literally do a deal with the Irish, whether you bribe them or threaten them, one way or the other, to get them in a position where they're the ones who drop the opposition to the backstop and that enables the Europeans to do so.

"I think the amazing thing about this is, three years in, we are still no closer to actually understanding the final possibilities than we were three years ago."

The Daily Mirror's Alison Phillips, sitting beside him, shook her head and widened her eyes in reaction to his first comment.

Dr Mendoza, who has a PhD in History, was lambasted on Twitter for the comment, with one user saying: "Eh? He should be sacked. How is this allowed? Ireland are our allies. They didn’t ask for Brexit."

Another said he was "drowning in his own ignorance".

One posted: "That whole 'Ireland is a sovereign state' thing seems to pass these think tank types by. As it does nearly all British politicians."

Posting afterwards on Twitter, Dr Mendoza thanked one user for "seeing through the hysteria" and added: "The 'threat' is not literal, but a reminder that a no deal Brexit will almost certainly lead to measures that will threaten the Irish economy such as a massive cut in UK Corporation Tax.

"Now, will that be good (or) bad for Ireland?"

A user then replied: "Hysteria is the word. It's brought the heavy mob out."

Dr Mendoza said: "Ironic considering we also discussed on the show exactly how social media deadens discourse as its immediacy removes the filter of critical thought."

Labour leader and party spokesman on foreign affairs, Brendan Howlin, told the Irish Mirror that he was shocked at Dr Mendoza’s "ignorant" comments.

“The comments by Mendoza are appallingly ignorant of the process we have been undertaking for the last three years.

“The suggestion is shocking and ignorant fantasy.”

The Irish Mirror this evening asked Dr Mendoza whether he wanted to clarify his remarks, withdraw them, or apologise to the Irish people for his provocative comments.

He said: "A simple clarification - the 'threat' I was referring to was not a literal threat, but the reality that a No Deal Brexit would threaten the Irish economy as it would necessitate UK policy changes such as slashing the rate of Corporation Tax, which would obviously not be in Irish interests.

"As a result, the Irish government would need to think very carefully about where its best interests lay, and whether it should seek to join with the UK in persuading fellow EU countries that there was a workable alternative to the backstop that would - crucially - now have Irish support.

"If that process was lubricated by promises of UK investment into Ireland (the 'bribe') then so much the better for both countries.

"What this would achieve is turning a divisive issue between us into one that could herald a stronger UK-Irish partnership."