The former Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers believes the border between the Republic and the north will remain open as all sides involved want it to remain so.

Speaking on Sky News earlier today, she said: "What has encouraged me since the referendum result is that we have the new Prime Minister, the Brexit secretary, we have the Taoiseach in Ireland all saying we need to keep this border open - it is crucial."

"If you have both countries determined to keep that border open, I think there must be a reasonable chance we can do that," she added. 

Theresa Villiers: if all parties wants to keep the Irish border open, there must be a good chance of it #Murnaghan https://t.co/2Ik6u4LobA

— Murnaghan (@SkyMurnaghan) September 4, 2016

 The introduction of a hard border has been an issue ever since Britain voted to leave the E.U. earlier this year.