It’s deal or no deal in Brexit talks

TONIGHT is key for Ireland in the entire Brexit debacle.

The issue of a backstop deal which is so important to us is at the centre of talks.

It has been before of course, but tonight is truly an occasion of brinkmanship where Taoiseach Leo Varadkar must hold his nerve.

The importance of the backstop cannot be underplayed, for citizens North and South.

This country was torn apart both physically and mentally by a border for long enough, so nobody should even be contemplating anything that could see a return.

The dangerous games many in the Brexit club play, including the DUP, could see any deal unravel before our very eyes.

If that happens we could see the even more terrible vista of a no deal Brexit coming down the tracks.

This would see Britain crashing out of the EU with no deal in place – and as the only country in Europe with a land border with the UK, we would be hit hardest.

It would cost billions to businesses trading cross-border in both Ireland and the UK, not to mention the damage it would to do to our joint psyches.

The Good Friday Agreement ended a generation of bloodshed and that would potentially collapse if a hard Brexit materialises.

This, above all, should focus minds at tonight’s negotiations at what we hope is not the last supper in Brussels.