Brussels may compromise to avoid a hard Irish border

THE Brexit deadlock over the Irish border could be broken after Brussels accepted it will need to soften its position to strike a deal with Britain.

Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief Brexit negotiator, is working on a revised plan for Northern Ireland that would involve technology based solutions to avoid a hard border for goods.

Whitehall sources said the signs from Brussels were “encouraging” but stressed that the EU must compromise further.

An agreement is still likely to take “months”, according to insiders.

Mr Barnier is proposing using technology to check goods crossing the Irish Sea, but Mrs May has always made clear that any proposal that creates a border between the UK mainland and Northern Ireland would be “unacceptable to any prime minister”.

Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister, said: “We are not talking about technology to solve the border on the island of Ireland question.

“Whether technology can help eastwest trade is a different question.”

A Whitehall source said: “They are clearly accepting that their original solution doesn’t work, which is good news, because it means they are considering alternatives and it suggests they will ultimately compromise.

“But this particular compromise doesn’t work because it involves a border in the Irish Sea, no matter how invisible it might be, and we have always been clear that we will not allow that to happen.”