At a joint address at Government buildings by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and EU Commissioner Jean Claude Juncker, Varadkar said there would be no withdrawal by Ireland from the backstop agreement. The Commissioner is in Ireland on a two-day visit to discuss Brexit and other issues on the EU agenda. Brexit, however, is the focus of their discussions.
At a joint address at Government buildings by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and EU Commissioner Jean Claude Juncker, Varadkar said there would be no withdrawal by Ireland from the backstop agreement.
The Commissioner is in Ireland on a two-day visit to discuss Brexit and other issues on the EU agenda. Brexit, however, is the focus of their discussions.
As the October deadline approaches there is still yet to be any sign of a deal being agreed. There have been suggestions from some corners that Ireland’s commitment to the backstop deal could result in a no-deal and hard Brexit situation.
A joint statement from the EU and UK released in Brussels on Tuesday confirmed that “serious issues remain on the border backstop”.
Despite this, Varadkar has said that there will be no withdrawal by Ireland from what was agreed by Theresa May, the UK prime minister. Presently the deal in place means in the event of no-deal, Northern Ireland would remain within the customs union.
'No advantage'
“There would be no advantage to our withdrawal from what was agreed,” he said. “The UK made the agreement and we expect that they will honour their word.”
He thanked Commissioner Juncker for his support and stated that Ireland will continue to negotiate with the UK not as an individual country but as part of the EU.
Commissioner Juncker reiterated the support Ireland has from the EU stating: “You are not alone and you have the support of 26 other member states.”
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