Angela Merkel has likened the Irish border question to the fall of the Iron Curtain and said Theresa May must bring worked-out proposals to a meeting of EU leaders next week.

Speaking on a visit to Dublin, the German chancellor recalled the “heavy death toll” it took to bring about a borderless island of Ireland and spoke of her determination to avoid divisions re-emerging after Brexit.

“I personally come, after all, from a country that for many years was divided by a wall,” the chancellor said.

“For 34 years I lived behind the Iron Curtain so I know only too well what it means once borders vanish, once walls fall and that one needs to do anything in order to bring about a peaceful cooperation.

“After all a heavy death toll has been taken here throughout the Troubles.”

Speaking alongside the chancellor, Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, said he knew of only three ways to prevent a hard border from re-emerging: Britain staying in the EU, it adopting a soft Norway-plus Brexit or ratifying the withdrawal agreement.

Asked whether she thought a hard border could be avoided, Ms Merkel said: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”.

In a joint press conference following meetings together to discuss Brexit, both leaders appeared positive about talks taking place in London between the government and Labour to find a cross-party solution.

Ms Merkel said: “We do hope that the intensive discussions that are ongoing in London will lead to a situation by next Wednesday when we have our special council meeting where prime minister Theresa May will have something to table to us on the basis of which we can continue to talk.”

Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Show all 12 1 /12 Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry A garage door displaying unionism, bolted shut, like a visual representation of Brexit Britain, locked to outsiders, safeguarding what’s inside Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry Rossville Street, the site of Bloody Sunday, where messages demand a severance with England. From this perspective, Britain is England in sheep’s clothing, the real empire, the centre of colonial power Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Bangor A political message in paint not yet dry, still forming, setting, adjusting, or in old paint finally eroding, melting away Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Bangor Moral judgement frames a residential view. The message seeks to make everybody involved in the religious narrative: those who don’t believe are those most in debt Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Castlerock The beach is sparse and almost empty, but covered in footprints. The shower is designed to wash off sand, and a mysterious border cuts a divide through the same sand Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Belfast Two attempts to affect and care for the body. One stimulated by vanity and social norms and narratives of beauty, the other by a need to keep warm in the winter night Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Belfast The gate to an unclaimed piece of land, where nothing is being built, where no project is in the making, where a sign demands the creation of something new Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry Under a motorway bridge a woman’s face stares, auburn and red-lipped, her skin tattooed with support for the IRA and a message of hostility to advocates of the Social Investment Fund Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry The Fountain Murals, where the curbs and the lampposts are painted the red, white, and blue of the Union Flag. A boy walks past in the same colours, fitting the scene, camouflaged Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Coleraine A public slandering by the football fields, for all to see or ignore. I wonder if it’s for the police or for the community Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Belfast A tattoo parlour, where the artist has downed tools, momentarily, bringing poise to the scene, which looks like a place of mourning, not a site of creation Richard Morgan/The Independent Britain Before Brexit: Northern Ireland Derry, Londonderry A barrier of grey protects the contents of this shop, guarding it from the streets outside, but it cannot conceal it completely, and the colours of lust and desire and temptation cut through Richard Morgan/The Independent

Asked what conditions the UK might have to follow if it wanted to delay Brexit again, she added: “Over the past few days we have seen that there is quite a lot of movement, even in the British internal debate. So as of today, I am not in a position to answer speculative questions.”

Mr Varadkar said: “Matters continue to play out in London and I think we need to be patient and understanding of the predicament that they are in, but of course any further extension must require and must have a credible way forward.”

I personally come, after all, from a country that for many years was divided by a wall Angela Merkel

MPs last night narrowly voted through a law that would require the government to seek a long extension of Article 50 to avoid a no-deal Brexit. Such an extension would, however, require the unanimous approval of EU leaders – who have said it would need a purpose.

French president Emmanuel Macron, seen as a hardliner on the issue, said he was open to an extension in the case of the UK deciding to hold a general election, a second referendum or if there was a serious process taking place in Westminster to try to come to an agreement.