DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds speaks during the party's annual conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, November 25, 2017. REUTERS/Andrew Paton

BELFAST (Reuters) - Talks between Democratic Unionist Party and the British government to secure a deal on the post-Brexit future of the region’s border continued on Thursday, a spokesman for the Northern Ireland party said.

The British government needs to agree a text with both the DUP and Irish government before the European Union will agree to move onto the next phase of Brexit talks.

“We have been talking to the government over the last couple of days and that is continuing today,” the DUP spokesman said, saying deputy party leader Nigel Dodds and party Chief Whip Jeffrey Donaldson were involved but that party leader Arlene Foster remained in Northern Ireland.

“Ultimately if there is an agreement she will go over,” he said. “Flights can be booked reasonably quickly but there is not an expectation of her going today.”