Ireland says UK cannot unilaterally scrap border backstop
DUBLIN: Ireland is willing to examine ways in which a ‘‘backstop’’ to keep the Irish border open after Brexit could be reviewed so long as it does not permit Britain to unilaterally walk away from it, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar says.
The sides in the negotiations on the terms of Britain’s exit from the European Union have signalled progress on agreeing customs arrangements for an emergency Irish border fix but disagree on the lifespan of the socalled ‘‘backstop’’.
British Prime Minister Theresa May raised the possibility of a review mechanism for the backstop in a phone call with Varadkar that she had sought to update him on the current state of the talks, the Irish Government said.
‘‘The Taoiseach (Prime Minister) indicated an openness to consider proposals for a review, provided that it was clear that the outcome of any such review could not involve a unilateral decision to end the backstop,’’ they said.
‘‘He recalled the prior commitments made that the backstop must apply ‘unless and until’ alternative arrangements are agreed.’’
May told Varadkar there would need to be a mechanism through which the backstop could be brought to an end, a spokesman from her office said in a statement.
The phone call followed a report by Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper that May’s Brexit Minister Dominic Raab had privately demanded the right to pull Britain out of the backstop after three months.
Varadkar separately told reporters an expiry date of that nature would not be worth the paper it is written on.
With just five months until Britain is due to leave the EU, May has yet to nail down a divorce deal, with the insurance arrangement to keep open the border between Britishruled Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland still the outstanding issue. — Reuters