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The Government has rejected the prospect of a bilateral agreement with the UK as an alternative to

the Brexit backstop.

The British had been seeking “an alternative mechanism” to restore the confidence of the Government here that there would be no hard border.

The Tanaiste tweeted: “For the record, Taoiseach and I have always been on the same page on #Brexit and we remain united & focused on protecting Ireland.

“That includes continued support for the EU/UK agreed WA [Withdrawal Agreement] in full, including the backstop as negotiated.”

Simon Coveney had been keen to emphasise the similar vision between both him and Mr Varadkar who had been earlier criticised by former UK Brexit secretary Dominic Raab.

However, Mr Coveney said the pair both have a strong focus on protecting Ireland from the uncertainty of Brexit and they remain united.

Mr Raab spoke on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show today and stressed the Taoiseach was “less moderate” than Mr Coveney as he’d ruled out an exit path from the backstop.

The Tory MP said: “They have taken this deeply political view on the backstop, which has got nothing to do with the realities of solving a return to the hard border and now we need to make sure there is a ladder for them to climb down.”

Minister Coveney, who reiterated the Government is committed to the Withdrawal Agreement, said: “As Brexit dominates news coverage, no surprise some analysis today gets it wrong.

“I can reassure you the Irish Government’s commitment to the entire Withdrawal Agreement is absolute – including the backstop to ensure, no matter what, an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland and the #GFA are protected”.

Meanwhile, Business Minister Heather Humphreys stressed if the UK decides to remain in the EU Customs Union the Withdrawal Agreement could be revisited.

She said: “In terms of the future relationship, if that is going to change, you know if the UK decide that maybe they want to stay in the Customs Union... then we can have a look at exactly what happens on the Withdrawal Agreement.

“But as far I’m concerned we cannot have a border between us and Northern Ireland.”

Ms Humphreys added she did not want to return to the days of a hard border.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald insisted the “watering down” of the backstop would be unacceptable.

She told RTE News the backstop is the “bare minimum” Ireland needs in terms of protection.