DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland has no plans to start preparing infrastructure for a possible hard border with Northern Ireland, Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said on Friday.

“What we are not doing is putting contingency plans in place that would result in border infrastructure between the two jurisdictions on this island. Surely we have learned lessons from the past,” Coveney told reporters at his Fine Gael party’s annual conference.

He said if it looked as though Britain were heading toward a no-deal departure from the European Union then direct discussions on how to avoid a hard border would be required.

Coveney added that those talks would not be easy.