IRISH EU commissioner Phil Hogan has warned that border controls between Northern Ireland and the Republic are "inevitable" with Brexit.
The former Irish minister for State said there was "an inevitability about a border on the island of Ireland if the current position of the UK government does not change".
Mr Hogan also said it was disappointing that there was no Executive in Northern Ireland, with which the EU Commission could engage.
Speaking to the Association of European Journalists in Dublin, Mr Hogan said if the British government continued to adhere to its current position of leaving the customs union and the single European market, a border could not be avoided.
"In an era when there is a high level of consciousness about security and border controls, I would expect that, if the UK and the EU either fail to make an agreement, or make an agreement on the United Kingdom's current policy, then border controls are inevitable," he said.
He also said the commitment to avoid a hard border, which was agreed in the first phase of talks between the EU and the UK, was welcome.
However, he added: "Phase one of the talks was like the National League, but the Championship is just about to start. That will be the decider."
Mr Hogan also said he believed that there was no prospect of the UK moving back from the decision to leave the EU, regardless of who was in power in the British government.
"I think Brexit is going to happen one way or another," he said.
"Having struck out on that road I don’t believe there is any way back. Maybe in 20 years they will see what they are missing and ask to come back."
