FILE PHOTO: Ireland's Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar holds a news conference after a European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium March 22, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

PARIS (Reuters) - It is in Ireland’s interests to protect the European Union single market and there is no better alternative than the Irish backstop, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Tuesday.

He was speaking at a news conference after talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.