Simon Coveney is stubbornly refusing to concede that we may have to “seal the border” if Britain crashes out of the EU with no deal in just over a week.
April 12 is the latest deadline that would see the UK leave the European Union.
And as it stands, this will be a Brexit with no deal as the shambles in the House of Commons means no way forward can yet be agreed.
This leaves Ireland as the only country in the EU sharing a border with the UK and EU top brass have made it clear we will have to perform customs checks at the very least at or near the border.
But the Foreign Minister is still refusing to contemplate this fast-approaching reality.
Mr Coveney told RTE on Monday: “We will come up with another plan, but it is difficult to do it.
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“We need to continue to focus on a solution here which is what has been agreed by the UK government and the European institutions, which is to solve this problem on the basis of regulatory alignment.
“And so if the British government refuses to follow through on that commitment they have made, then of course we have to speak to the European Commission on how we’re going to respond. That was always going to be left to the last number of weeks and that’s the way it’s now transpiring.”
Mr Coveney then got irate when he was asked to provide some detail about how we would “seal” and manage a potential new border. He said: “You keep using the words ‘sealing the border’ – nobody is going to be sealing the border.
“Don’t try and put words in people’s mouths.
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“I’ve made it very clear the Irish Government will work on a dual responsibility, one towards the Good Friday Agreement, and I hope the British government will also follow through on their commitments as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement. And secondly to the integrity of the Single Market. That is a complex challenge.
“The Irish Government will do everything we can to protect the Peace Process on this island and the relationships North and South, and that involves avoiding physical border infrastructure.
“But that won’t be the end of the story, because we will need to protect the integrity of the EU Single Market as well so that other countries will continue to see Ireland as a part of their Single Market.
“That is essential to the future of the Irish economy and we’re conscious of that.”
Mr Coveney’s comments came as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar prepares for some high-stakes Brexit talks with European leaders this week.
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The Taoiseach is in Paris on Tuesday where he will be meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Then he has to get ready to welcome German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Dublin on Thursday.
Both leaders will be coming to the Taoiseach looking for answers on how the Government plans to protect the integrity of the EU when Britain is no longer a member.
We will be the only country in Europe that shares a land border with the soon-to-be third party when it comes to trade.
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On Monday night, MPs once again rejected every single option in a second round of indicative votes on Brexit.
In a bid to break the impasse, MPs seized control of the Parliamentary timetable to vote on four different options.
These included a customs union, a Norway Plus style deal, an extension that could prevent No Deal and a second referendum.
But all of the options were voted down.
