Breakthrough for border as Brexit deal is back on
Hopes high May will sign up to ‘tweaked text’ with DUP on board
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May is due in Brussels today to finally sign up to the Brexit deal that dramatically broke down on Monday.
A major breakthrough was signalled last night as a “tweaked text” aimed at getting the DUP to agree to a Border deal was passed back and forth across the Irish Sea. Discussions continued throughout the night.
Sources in Dublin described the situation as “positive” but warned there was no room for complacency.
A spokesman for the EU Commission said its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, discussed the situation with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Mrs May during separate phonecalls.
“We are making progress but not yet fully there. Talks are continuing throughout the night,” he said.
Mrs May was due to travel to Brussels early this morning to meet with EU lead negotiator Michel Barnier and Mr Juncker around 9am Irish time and sign off on the deal, according to European Parliament sources.
The talks stalled last Monday after the DUP learned some details of the deal through the media. As efforts neared a conclusion last night, all sides agreed to limit media comment until the deal was sealed.
It is understood the new text retains key elements demanded by the Government to protect the Good Friday Agreement and ensure “regulatory alignment” between the Republic and Northern Ireland after Brexit. Irish officials see the assurances as a “safety net” in case of a hard Brexit.
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May was due in Brussels today to finally sign up to the Brexit deal that dramatically broke down on Monday.
A major breakthrough was signalled last night as a “tweaked text” aimed at getting the DUP to agree to a Border deal was passed back and forth across the Irish Sea. Sources in Dublin described the situation as “positive” but warned there was no room for complacency.
A spokesman for the EU Commission said its president Jean-Claude Juncker discussed the situation with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Mrs May during separate phonecalls.
“We are making progress but not yet fully there. Talks are continuing throughout the night,” he said. Arrangements were being made for Mrs May to travel to Brussels early this morning for a joint press conference with Mr Juncker.
The talks stalled last Monday after the DUP learned some details of the deal through the media, sparking a testy row with the UK government.
As renewed efforts neared a conclusion last night, all sides agreed to limit their media comment until the deal was sealed.
It is understood the new text does retain key elements demanded by the Government in order to protect the Good Friday Agreement and ensure “regulatory alignment” between the Republic and Northern Ireland after Brexit.
Irish officials see the assurances as a “safety net” in case the final deal between the UK and EU results in a hard Brexit.
It is believed extra text now under consideration offers reassurance that this won’t undermine the integrity of the Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.
A spokesperson for Mr Varadkar last night refused to give any details of the proposed additions to the text.
“Matters are being considered as part of ongoing discussions involving the [EU negotiating] task force, the Irish Government and the British government,” he said.
The DUP’s Sammy Wilson said: “Discussions are ongoing.”
But expectations were heightened after the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, announced plans for a press conference at 6.50am.
Mrs May is under intense pressure to get leaders at the December 14 European Council summit to signal that the focus of the Brexit negotiations can shift to trade.
EU sources say the final deadline on an agreement for a deal between the UK and EU task force is late Sunday evening or early Monday morning.
If a deal materialises in time, EU task force officials alongside Mr Juncker and the EU’s lead Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier will recommend to the Euro- pean Council that “sufficient progress” has been reached.
The Government will be in close contact with the task force and the European Commission before an official recommendation is made to the Council.
On Monday afternoon, the terms agreed on the Irish Border, citizens’ rights and the UK’s financial settlement will be analysed by member states’ ‘Sherpas’ in Brussels. Sherpas are European affairs advisers to EU heads of state and government.
They will put forward guidelines aimed at agreeing a transitional period prior to the UK exiting the EU, and prepare a scoping exercise for the EU’s future relationship with Britain. This will eventually lead to the commencement of trade talks.
Tánaiste Simon Coveney said yesterday that any new proposals from the UK must retain “the core meaning of the text on which we had agreement on Monday”.
“The Irish Government has acted in a way that has been consistent for months now and we do not intend to move away from that position.”
Once again he stressed that there were more political parties in Northern Ireland than the DUP and said they all had “genuine concerns” that must be listened to.
Mr Coveney said the deal tabled earlier in the week would have ensured that Phase II could move ahead.
The Cork TD said he accepted the British government “is trying to move this process forward in good faith”.
“We want to work with it rather than against it on that, but Ireland has real concerns which are important to the country and its future, and to the island and in future,” he said.