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Dublin will be forced to make the tough choice if Britain quits the EU without a deal, according to a number of senior EU figures. The European Commission sparked fury from Ireland after declaring Dublin would have to implement a hard border in the event of a no-deal Brexit. After significant protests from, which involved a heated debate between Leo Varadkar and Jean-Claude Juncker, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, suggested “operational solutions” would have to be found in order to prevent a hardening of the border.

But now high-ranking MEPs have hardened their position, insisting the single market must not be compromised even to maintain peace on the island of Ireland. Elmar Brok, a German MEP with close ties to Angela Merkel, insisted that if Ireland failed to police its own borders the EU would have to take its own protectionist action. “We would have to set up a customs border with Ireland,” the German said. He also warned that if Brussels didn’t make the demands then "we will soon have American chlorine chicken in the EU".

Brexit news: Ireland to be forced out of EU markets if Dublin refuses hard border in no deal

He said: "The defence of the internal market is the basis of our economic success in Germany. If we destroy the Single Market, the EU is finished." Manfred Weber, another German MEP, who is also vying to become the next European Commission, said the Brussels must not be “blackmailed” over the Irish border. “The internal market is essential for the EU,” he said. “We continue to hang in a vacuum, lacking a clear message for the British.”

Philippe Lamberts, a Belgian MEP and a member of the EU Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group, warned that refusing to implement a hard border would give the British an “open door” into the bloc’s single market. “The British would have a 500km backdoor into the single market,” he warned. “If Ireland refuses to protect the border with Northern Ireland after a hard Brexit, we would have to relocate the customs border to the Continent.” Mr Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, has previously suggested that checks could be carried out at in ports in France and the Netherlands in order to keep them away from the border in a no-deal Brexit.

Theresa May will visit Brussels on Thursday to meet Jean-Claude Juncker

Home Secretary Sajid Javid revealed, on Sunday, that he had been advised by UK Border Force that technology could be deployed on the border in order to keep it frictionless. But Paschal Donohoe, the Irish finance minister, refused to engage in bilateral talks with London in order to reach a technological compromise. Hitting out at the Home Secretary’s claims, Mr Donohoe said: "If he has been shown this, I think we'd all love to see it. I don't see any evidence for it." Simon Coveney, the Irish deputy prime minister, said: ““What Ireland is being asked to do by some in Westminster is to essentially do away with an agreed solution between the UK Government and EU negotiators and to replace it with wishful thinking and I think that’s a very unreasonable request to ask the Irish Government to be flexible on.