We will stop Brexit talks NOW if there’s no deal on border...

»»Written guarantee is needed before negotiations can start »»ireland could have backing of 27 eu nations on veto vote

IRELAND will not let Brexit negotiations proceed next month unless we get a bulletproof guarantee on no return of a hard border.

Major differences now exist between the Government and British politicians over the issue of a possible physical barrier as the first phase of Brexit talks near conclusion.

UK Foreign secretary Boris Johnson caused diplomatic ructions when he suggested the contentious issue of a potential border return could be dealt with in phase two of the talks.

The Irish Government is bitterly opposed to such a sidelining of the crucial issue and is ready to make progress on the border question.

It is believed Ireland will have the backing of the remaining 27 EU nations at next month’s summit meeting.

It is considered highly possible Ireland’s EU partners would acquiesce to us using a veto vote if the required progress is not forthcoming.

High-level talks took place simultaneously on Thursday morning between Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Prime Minister Theresa May on the fringes of the EU Summit in Gothenburg, and between Foreign Minister Simon Coveney and his UK counterpart, Mr Johnson, in Dublin.

Mr Johnson said his government is ready to move forward without resolving the border problem. Speaking ahead of the Iveagh House meeting he added: “I think logically now is the time to proceed with stage two of the negotiations, get those issues really teased out, develop a vision for how it is going to work, not just with the Northern Irish border, Dover, Calais, everywhere where the UK has a border with the EU and sort it out that way.

“I share Simon’s view that we need to get on with this, but our view is that you can only crack the problem in the context of a wider understanding of how the new customs union arrangements are going to work across the board.” Mr

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Coveney responded by indicating it is not acceptable and saying the border issue is paramount.

He said: “The EU taskforce has said that there are parameters around which we need to find solutions, and the details of that will be in phase two – I am sure – but those parameters need to be a lot clearer before we can move on to phase two.”

Meanwhile, Mr Varadkar was equally strident in his insistence that after 18 months of negotiations the border issue needs to be resolved soon and not be kicked down the road.

Speaking after his meeting with Ms May, he said: “We’ve been given assurances now for 18 months since the referendum there’ll be no hard border in Ireland, there’ll be no physical infrastructure, that we won’t go back to the borders of the past and we want that written down in practical terms in the conclusions of phase one.

“What we want to take off the table before we even talk about trade is any idea that there could be a hard border, a physical border, or a border resembling the past in Ireland.

“So, once those parameters are set, then we’d be happy to move on to phase two.”

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin met with Mr Johnson in Leinster House immediately after the official inter-governmental meeting.

Mr Martin is broadly in line with the Government position. He suggested a “special economic zone” for the North, where it would retain customs union

Honey words and hollow promises from UK won’t wash DAVID CULLINANE