Brexit Secretary David Davis was back in Northern Ireland last night for his second unannounced visit inside a month.
News of the senior Tory's short trip to Belfast yesterday afternoon filtered out through social media rather than being officially communicated.
Last month, Mr Davis faced widespread criticism after a flying visit to the border – 20 months after he was appointed as Brexit secretary.
On that occasion no media were invited to what was described rather oddly as a "private visit".
The Department for Exiting the European Union also failed to observe protocol by informing Newry and Armagh MP Mickey Brady, later blaming "an administrative oversight".
A statement from DexEU last night after Mr Davis had arrived, said the Brexit Secretary and Business Secretary Greg Clark joined Secretary of State Karen Bradley as part of the working group "exploring potential future customs arrangements, focusing on the proposed highly streamlined customs arrangements".
The statement described them as the ‘max fac’ (maximum facilitation) working group and said they met representatives from the freight industry, cross-border businesses and border communities to "further explore how the highly-streamlined customs model could address the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland".
