BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Theresa May has arrived in Dublin this evening for talks with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as she continues to try to seek concessions on the Irish backstop.
Varadkar greeted May at Farmleigh and they will both attend dinner together.
May’s visit comes after both leaders held talks in Brussels earlier in the week, with both Ireland and the EU refusing to entertain dropping the backstop from the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
This backstop that would ensure no hard border in Ireland was agreed in the withdrawal agreement between May’s government and the EU before Christmas, but that was voted down heavily in the House of Commons last month.
Since then, May has changed tack and, with the support of her party, has gone back to try to convince Brussels and Dublin to drop the requirement of the backstop.
All this has heightened the threat of a no-deal Brexit, with the UK’s set leaving date from the EU of 29 March now looming large on the horizon.
Varadkar and May both visited Northern Ireland earlier today for talks with local political parties.
He was speaking on a visit to Northern Ireland for talks with local political parties, before hosting British Prime Minister May for dinner in Dublin.
Speaking during the visit, Varadkar said: “Today is an opportunity for me, really, to listen to different perspectives, to hear what people have to say, and maybe just to collect some suggestions as to how we might move forward.
“The withdrawal agreement and the backstop are not up for negotiation.”
He repeated that the EU could discuss changes to a statement on future ties that accompanies the Brexit deal, and “what assurances may be given that would assist this agreement being ratified”.
In London, May’s spokeswoman repeated that she was seeking “legally binding changes” to the deal.
And May’s Northern Irish allies, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said after meeting Varadkar that they could not support anything less.
“Interpretations, guarantees, assurances won’t cut it. The backstop is the problem in the withdrawal agreement and it is that that has got to be addressed,” DUP lawmaker Nigel Dodds said.
Given their entrenched positions, Varadkar was asked what the point was of his talks with May.
“Everybody wants to avoid no deal, everybody wants to avoid a hard border and everyone wants to continue to have a very close political and economic relationship between Britain and Ireland,” he said.
“So there’s much more that unites us than divides us, I think. Time is running short and we need to get to an agreement as soon as possible.”
With reporting by Sean Murray and AFP
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