BORIS Johnson says there will be a hard border in Ireland “under no circumstances” if he becomes the next Prime Minister.
The frontrunner in the Conservative leadership race also said he would never accept a deal that sees the north taken out of the UK’s customs territory in any Brexit deal.
Boris was speaking after meeting DUP leader Arlene Foster at Stormont.
Mrs Foster described it as a “useful discussion about restoring devolution and delivering on the EU referendum result”.
Earlier on Tuesday, Johnson and leadership rival Jeremy Hunt made their pitch to be next PM to NI Conservative members at a hustings event in the Culloden Hotel.
Foreign Secretary Mr Hunt urged the DUP to "do their bit" and help get a Brexit deal through parliament.
"I do recognise that we are never going to have a deal to leave the EU with the backstop. So it has to change or it has to go," he said.
Boris Johnson, on the other hand, has said the current EU withdrawal agreement is a "a dead letter".
He said the backstop amounted to "moral blackmail" of the British government, presenting it with an "unacceptable choice”.
Reacting to the Tory visit, Sinn Féin MP Chris Hazzard said the party are not fooling anyone with fantasy proposals about so-called technological solutions for the border post-Brexit.
The South Down MP said: "Whoever ends up leading the Tory party, and if they then become British prime minister, they need to realise and accept that the backstop will not be renegotiated.
“The EU has made that abundantly clear on numerous occasions.
"And once again we heard the Tory leadership contenders repeating the same old nonsense about so-called technological solutions on the border.
"This suggestion has been rubbished by experts time and time again yet the Tory leadership contenders persist with this fantasy.
"The reality is that the Tories and their DUP allies are dragging us headlong towards a no-deal Brexit which means a hard border and economic disaster.
"In the event of a no-deal Brexit, there needs to be a constitutional referendum as set out in the Good Friday Agreement. This gives people in the north of Ireland the opportunity and option of remaining in the EU though Irish unity."