Coveney: We will NOT back down on backstop
Tanaiste insists Ireland ‘won’t be steamrolled’ in deadlock
IRELAND will not be railroaded into accepting backstop concessions, Simon Coveney has warned – and it could result in a hard border.
The Tanaiste is standing firm in the face of increasing pressure from British politicians – and some in Europe such as Germany – to relax his position.
The backstop is the legal guarantee that no matter what happens with Brexit there will be no return of a hard border.
Mr Coveney was speaking in Brussels yesterday where he had high-level discussions with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier. Ireland’s second most senior politician said any attempt to change the backstop with “keyhole surgery” either by adding an expiry date, or by handing the UK the ability to withdraw unilaterally, would continue to be opposed by Europe.
He also told how the country will not be “steamrolled” into giving ground on the issue.
Mr Coveney also rejected any suggestion Ireland was to blame for the Brexit deadlock, insisting responsibility lay with London.
His comments come amid efforts by the UK government to gain concessions from the EU on the contentious backstop mechanism.
Mr Coveney outlined his position after meeting with UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt on the fringes of a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels yesterday.
He also met with Mr Barnier. Afterwards, he again made clear the backstop as laid out in the Withdrawal Agreement is not up for renegotiation.
Mr Coveney told RTE News: “There is a deal on the table. The British government signed up to it.
“Jeremy Hunt was part of that government.
“They haven’t been able to sell that to their own parliament.
“And I accept that has created a lot of uncertainty, but it is certainly not Ireland’s fault.
“The responsibility to resolve this problem in terms of the way forward needs to lie
where the problem is