The EU's chief Brexit negotiator has suggested a new border with the North is inevitable.

Michel Barnier says certain border controls are part of the EU and unavoidable.

It's the most explicit comment that any senior EU official has made about the prospect of some kind of frontier being imposed between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

He's told a joint sitting of the Dail and Seanad that a united EU will be there for Ireland - but suggested a border will have to exist in some shape or form.

"We have a duty to speak the truth. The UK's departure from the EU will have consequences," he said

"Customs controls are part of EU border management."

From Leinster House, our political correspondent Gavan Reilly reports: