16:42

Ireland’s newly installed deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, has said the EU will not “abandon” Dublin and force it to veto progress of Brexit on its own if a satisfactory deal on the Irish border is not on the table by Monday’s deadline.

He told MPs in the Dail there was “a very strong understanding across the 27 EU states in relation to what is required” in order to get talks over the line into the second phase of negotiations.

He said the decision on whether to move to the next stage or not was of “real historic significance” to Ireland. He said:

This is about permanent change in the relationship between Ireland and Britain and within this island.

Coveney who was promoted to the post of tanaiste on Thursday was responded to calls by the Sinn Fein deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald to use Ireland’s veto if necessary.

He said Ireland had been consistent in its demands that there was no regulatory divergence over the Irish border as a result of the UK pulling out of the EU.



“What perhaps has changed is the expectation of others that Ireland might change its position,” he said in reference to the UK.