Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney addresses the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 28, 2018. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Brexit negotiations will probably need to run into November to finalise a withdrawal treaty, including a so-called “backstop” agreement to avoid a hard land border on the island of Ireland, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Tuesday.

“There is an expectation that the UK side will introduce some legal text which I hope can be helpful. Whether or not that can be the basis for a significant step forward between now and the (EU) Council meeting next week, we simply don’t know yet,” Coveney told a news conference.

“What we do know is that the talks process has intensified this week on trying to find a way forward on the backstop but I suspect November will probably be needed as well as October to get agreement on that but we’ll know an awful lot more next Monday and Tuesday.”