THE EU’s chief Brexit negotiator suggested today that physical checks on goods travelling across the Irish Sea could be cut to a “couple of lorries a day.”

Maros Sefcovic said that the bloc stands ready to work in a “open and constructive” way with the British government following a statement from its new Prime Minister Liz Truss on the prospect of a negotiated settlement on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

It comes as Britain and EU have been embroiled in a row over proposals to over-ride parts of the post-Brexit treaty as it seeks to reduce trade barriers with the region.

In an interview printed in the Financial Times today, Mr Sefcovic said that the EU “stands ready to work in an open and constructive and intensive way.”

He argued that the trade border would be “invisible” under the EU’s plans, with goods processed “remotely” while making their way to Northern Ireland, as long as Britain provides real-time data on their movements.

Mr Sefcovic suggested physical checks would typically only be made for a “couple of lorries a day,” when “there is reasonable suspicion of … illegal trade smuggling, illegal drugs or dangerous toys or poisoned food.”

The treaty is designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit. But it has proved deeply unpopular with unionists because it has introduced new trade barriers in the Irish Sea.

It has sparked a power-sharing crisis at Stormont, with the DUP withdrawing from the executive in protest.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill, Belfast North MP John Finucane and other senior party figures stayed away from Sunday’s accession proclamation ceremony for Britain’s King Charles III at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down.

They instead attended a protest in Belfast against the British government’s controversial Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, which proposes a form of amnesty for perpetrators of Troubles crimes in exchange for co-operation with a new truth recovery body.

Mr Finucane, whose solicitor father Pat was murdered by loyalists in 1989 in a killing linked to British state agents, told the event the Bill is designed to cover up the government’s role in the conflict.

“The new Prime Minister Liz Truss needs to hear that we will not allow our rights to be cherry-picked or traded ever by a British government,” he said.

“She must bin this flawed legislation without delay.

“This has and remains a long campaign and today is but another staging point.

“But we are stronger when we stand together in solidarity. We are not giving up. We are not going away.

“All the British government can do is delay the truth. They can no longer deny responsibility and they can no longer deny rights and they will ultimately not be successful.

“We should and I know we will take hope that the truth will out.”