Ireland open to 'better' NI border backstop - Paschal Donohoe

File Photo: Paschal Donohue

Conor Humphries

July 20 2018 08:39 AM

Ireland is open to the possibility of an alternative "backstop" deal between Britain and the EU to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland so long as it is better than the EU's current proposal and is legally operable, finance minister Paschal Donohoe said.

"The Irish government is very clear that the Irish backstop must be retained for any future agreement between the EU and the UK to be put in place," Paschal Donohoe told RTE radio's Morning Ireland on Friday.

"The only thing that could replace this current form of a backstop is, No. 1 something which is better; No. 2 something which is agreed and No. 3 something that would be legally operable. This is the view of the Irish government and the European Union."

Mr Donohoe also said that he believed that British Prime Minister Theresa May's commitment to an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic is "genuine and sincere".