A no-deal Brexit is an ugly prospect that will put businesses and people under a great deal of strain, the Government has warned.
Speaking outside Government Buildings in Dublin, Tanaiste Simon Coveney said: "A no-deal Brexit will put political relationships on this island under strain.
"It will make it more difficult for the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement to function and it will be a fundamental disruptor to the all island economy as it functions today seamlessly.
"There is no sugar coating of that message. For people living in border counties and in Northern Ireland, this will be really difficult.
"In a no-deal scenario, while we will prevent physical infrastructure, undoubtedly the imposition of tariffs and the need to protect the integrity of the Single Market, to keep Ireland in the Single Market that we have been part of creating, will provide a disruption to the all island trade which is something that we will all work intensively to avoid."
Mr Coveney made the comments as the Government released its latest contingency plan for a no-deal Brexit.
The document details the complexity that Ireland faces in a crash Brexit.
"The overarching theme of this document is really a very stark message that there is no good news in a no-deal Brexit for Ireland, Northern Ireland or the UK," Mr Coveney added.
"This will be a very, very difficult issue for Ireland to deal with but this document is about mitigating where we can the negative impacts of that scenario should it unfold."
Mr Coveney added: "If there are alternative arrangements being proposed that aren't based on regulatory alignment, certainly the evidence suggests that they do nothing like what the backstop does in the context of protecting what we have in terms of trade and the relationships that come with that."
