Irish PM listening but not negotiating Ireland
The British and Irish leaders were looking to mend fences after a week of Brexit tensions at a dinner in Dublin yesterday. But Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and his British counterpart Theresa May sought to dampen expectations of a breakthrough on the thorny issue of the Irish border.
Varadkar said ahead of the meeting that ‘‘today is not a day for negotiations’’.
‘‘Today is a day for us to share our perspectives and for us to listen to each other,’’ said Varadkar, who also met with Northern Ireland politicians in Belfast. ‘‘There is much more that unites us than divides us, and time is running short.’’
May’s office said she would be underscoring her desire for legally binding changes to the Brexit deal she sealed with the European Union late last year.
The deal was overwhelmingly rejected by Britain’s parliament last month, largely over concerns about a provision designed to ensure an open border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and EU member Ireland.
Britain is due to leave the bloc on March 29, and the UK’s bid for last-minute changes has exasperated EU leaders, who insist that the legally binding withdrawal agreement changed.
Simmering differences boiled over this week when EU Council President Donald Tusk wondered aloud what ‘‘special place in hell’’ might be reserved for those in Britain who had backed Brexit with no idea of how to deliver it.
Tusk’s comment came ahead of talks between May and EU leaders on Friday, which both sides described as ‘‘robust’’. Neither side moved from their entrenched positions, but they did at least agree to keep talking.
The British and Irish attorneys-general met yesterday to see if there is any common ground on the border provision, known as the backstop – a safeguard that cannot be would keep the UK in a customs union with the EU to remove the need for checks along the border until a permanent new UK-EU trading relationship is in place.
Britain has suggested that the backstop could be altered by adding a time limit or a get-out clause. Both ideas have been rejected by officials in Brussels.
May is determined to get changes to her deal and win backing for it in parliament, but many MPs want her to change course.
Parliament is set to hold a debate and votes on Friday on the next steps, giving MPs a chance to force May to tack towards a softer Brexit.
The main opposition Labour Party said this week that it could support a Brexit deal if May committed to seeking a close relationship with the EU after Britain leaves. But any such move would cost May the support of a big chunk of her Conservative Party.