European Commission vice-president Jyrki Katainen has promised EU assistance for Ireland to check animals and food entering the Republic from Northern Ireland.

"We’re working very closely with authorities from Ireland to clarify the situation. The Commission is ready to make additional resources available to Ireland, both technical and financial, to address any challenges," Katainen said on Thursday.

"The idea is of course to makes sure that the peace agreement is respected, there is no hard border, and necessary checks on product safety are made or carried out in the least possible disruptive manner, away from the border if at all possible," he added.

Katainen said the "number one issue" was to respect the Good Friday Agreement.

"The second thing is that we have to make sure that products entering the EU territory are safe and they comply with our quality and safety standard," he added.

'Immediate' checks

This follows similar comments by European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici on Wednesday.

Moscovici said the imposition of EU checks on imports from the UK would be "immediate" after a no-deal Brexit and apply to "all entry points into the European Union".

"Whatever happens, we have been clear since the start that the Good Friday Agreement will continue to apply in all circumstances," Moscovici said – though in his speech, this came second.

UK edges towards softer Brexit

Rosslare animal inspection point confirmed

Department of Agriculture takes 3ha yard at Dublin Port for customs checks

'Additional resources' but no details on border checks from EU

European Commissioners have said they are working with Irish officials on how animals and livestock products would be checked at the border in a hard Brexit, but did not explain how it would work.