16:17

Senior politicians in the US have warned that a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the US would be in jeopardy if there there was a return to a hard border in Ireland

Democratic congressman Richard Neal, who chairs the ways and means committee, the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives which oversees trade deals, said he had already raised it with the US trade representative. He said:

We want a bilateral trade agreement with the UK, but at the same time I think I would raise concerns that I raise now, and that would be obviously no return to a hard border.

Republican congressman Peter King also expressed concern. He said:

We as Irish Americans make it clear when we deal with the British that this is very, very important and if the British want to consider any kind of trade agreement with the United States, it’s important that soft border is maintained.

They were speaking during a trip by Ireland’s deputy prime minister Simon Coveney who is on a campaign to secure a seat on the UN security council.



Coveney said he was not there to ask US lawmakers to take sides. He told RTÉ News: