Coveney warns DUP over veto on Brexit deal
Foreign Minister stands firm on backstop move
THE DUP cannot be allowed to veto a Brexit deal on the border, the Foreign Minister warned yesterday.
He said the backstop agreement, which would ensure no hard border in a no-deal Brexit scenario, had turned into a “green and orange issue”.
Simon Coveney added getting a good deal for Ireland in negotiations is being hampered by the actions of some political parties.
Speaking on RTE Radio’s Marian Finucane programme he said he believed undermining or threatening the constitutional integrity of the UK in Brexit negotiations was not a runner.
Mr Coveney added: “Unfortunately some people have turned the mechanism to get this famous backstop agreed as that kind of agenda, which it isn’t. The really sticky issue at the moment is can we find a solution on the backstop? I believe we can.
“Hopefully we will make significant progress on it by the leaders’ summit in October, to be concluded in November.”
He said that while the DUP has a role to play in supporting the British government, Ireland and the EU does not have a “confidence and supply” deal with any political party in the North.
Despite British Prime Minister Theresa May accusing EU leaders of driving Brexit talks into an impasse after they rejected her Chequers plan, Mr Coveney says he still thinks the deal is “doable”.
Accusing Sinn Fein of “spreading fear among unionists by calling previously for a border poll, he added: “We need to get a deal.”
Earlier, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the EU should end its “blanket refusal” of UK proposals in Brexit talks.
Last week the Taoiseach said he is working to secure a deal before the end of the year and does not believe we are headed for a nodeal Brexit.
The UK is due to formally leave the EU on March 29, 2019.
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Hopefully we’ll make progress on a solution by leaders’ summit SIMON COVENEY YESTERDAY