Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BREXIT It’s D-day for May
»Tusk statement ‘before breakfast’ PM May hopes to please Ireland...& DUP
THERESA May was last night scrambling to have a border deal on the table in time for breakfast.
The Prime Minister was desperate to hatch an agreement on post-brexit plans for the Irish border which satisfies the European Union, the Republic of Ireland and the DUP.
The announcement that European Council president Donald Tusk will make a statement early today fuelled speculation Mrs May had made progress.
But a Government source said: “We’re not there yet.”
A spokeswoman for Mr Tusk confirmed he would make a statement at 6.50am but would not give any further details.
Last night an Irish government spokesman said: “Matters are being considered as part of ongoing discussions involving the [EU negotiating] task force, the Irish government and the British government.”
But he did not specifically confirm whether or not a new form of text had been tabled by UK negotiators.
DUP chief whip Sir Jeffrey Donaldson added: “Discussions are ongoing.”
European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker’s chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas said he had telephoned Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar and then Mrs May.
He added an early morning meeting was “possible”.
Mr Schinas tweeted: “We are making progress but not yet fully there. Talks are continuing throughout the night.” A Number 10 spokesman confirmed the calls, adding: “Discussions about taking forward the Brexit process are ongoing.”
The PM had been hoping to make a new offer by today to satisfy both the Republic and the Democratic Unionists, who prop up her government.
A mooted agreement between the UK and EU on divorce issues including the Irish border, which would allow talks to progress to the future trade relationship, was torpedoed on Monday by the DUP.
They objected to plans for “regulatory alignment” between Northern Ireland and the Republic to maintain a soft border between the two, arguing it would amount to the drawing of a new frontier with the UK mainland in the Irish Sea.
Mrs May is under intense pressure to get leaders at the December 14 European Council summit to declare “sufficient progress” has been made on divorce issues so trade talks can begin.