UPDATE 5.30pm: The government has warned Ireland must be prepared for the worst case scenario when it comes to Brexit.

Both the British and Irish governments want a free border between north and south.

But key European figures have described that ambition as a fantasy.

Minister Simon Coveney says they have to be prepared for every possibility.

"We obviously have to prepare for the worst case scenario.

"We can't allow a situation whereby there's a cliff edge here that we get pushed over, and we haven't thought about that and tried to prepare for it.

"We don't want to be there and politics needs to find a way forward here, to ensure we protect what's important."

EARLIER: The British Government wants to have a frictionless border in the North.

A position paper on Brexit describes the future border between North and South as being seamless and free from customs checks.

The Government is proposing to use technology to allow traffic to move freely North and South.

The Foreign Affairs Minister has said he welcomes the partnership approach being put forward by the UK.

However, Simon Coveney has said some of the proposals will not work.

"There are all sorts of problems with that, I think we understand very well on the island of Ireland in the context of smuggling anf so on," he said.

"And Certainly from an argi food point of view, how that could be possible I just don't see how ot could work.

"If you look at the dairy industry, for example, milk powders, going to yoghurts, cheeses, butters, liquid milk and they end up across multiple markets."