FILE PHOTO: Ireland's Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney attends the MEDEF union summer forum renamed La Rencontre des Entrepreneurs de France, LaREF, at the Paris Longchamp Racecourse in Paris, France, August 28, 2019. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney urged his British counterpart on Friday to bring forward any viable alternatives to the backstop as soon as possible, his spokesman said following a 45-minute meeting between the pair.

Coveney, who is also Ireland’s deputy prime minister, reiterated in the meeting with Dominic Raab that Britain’s divorce treaty with the European Union that contains the backstop insurance policy for the Irish border was not up for renegotiation, the spokesman said.

“The Tanaiste (deputy prime minister) urged the British government to bring any viable alternatives to the backstop - that achieve the same goal of no hard border or related infrastructure or checks and protect the all-island economy and Ireland’s place in the EU single market - forward as quickly as possible,” he said.