EU will not budge on NI border row

THE trade border in the Irish Sea between the UK and Northern Ireland must remain, the EU insists.

Talks aimed at resolving the thorny issue failed with both sides agreeing on “intensified contacts”.

The Northern Ireland Protocol in the Brexit deal has enraged Unionists as it “cuts off” the province from the rest of the UK.

The EU insists it remains the only way to prevent a hard border with the Irish Republic - which it says would imperil the Good Friday peace deal.

Democratic Unionist Party deputy leader Lord Nigel Dodds said: “The Protocol continues to wreak havoc on east-west trading relationships.”