Eamonn McCann said he thought it would be unlikely a campaign of civil disobedience would be necessary

People Before Profit councillors Shaun Harkin and Eamonn McCann have said they would encourage a mass campaign of resistance if any physical infrastructure is erected between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Mr Harkin, speaking to the News Letter, said: “A hard border can’t be imposed upon us if we don’t allow it to happen.

“We’ve called for people power mobilisations that would stop any kind of border infrastructure going up – we mean mass protests, sit-downs, demonstrations, and so on.”

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Veteran campaigner Mr McCann, speaking on BBC Radio Foyle yesterday morning, expressed a similar view but said he was doubtful such a campaign would be necessary.

“We will be using the platform, if you like, of the council to encourage civil disobedience but I don’t think it’s going to come to this,” he said.

“I don’t believe there is going to be a hard border in the sense of there being installations and customs posts along the border. That’s not going to happen. I don’t believe the local people will stand for it.”

Mr McCann said the “extreme” reaction he believes a hard border would provoke post-Brexit makes it unlikely to happen in the first place.

“Anybody who thinks that you could build a hard border across the island of Ireland and that there’s not going to be extreme reactions to it, anybody who thinks that needs to look at Irish history – including very recent Irish history,” he said.