FILE PHOTO: Ireland's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney speaks during a news conference in Dublin, Ireland, April 12, 2018. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

LONDON (Reuters) - There is too much focus on the possible negative consequences of Britain crashing out of the European Union without a deal given that it is still an unlikely scenario, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Wednesday.

Asked if he accepted that Ireland had more to lose from a no-deal scenario than Britain, he said: “There’s probably too much talk of the negative consequences of a no deal Brexit.”

“Clearly, for Ireland, a no deal Brexit is very bad news. Clearly, for Britain, a no deal Brexit is very bad news too ... We have to prepare, of course, in terms of contingency planning, for that eventuality ... but I do not think that that is a likely scenario.”