Mr Coveney is in Brussels for a meeting of the General Affairs Council of the European Union, which will prepare the ground for a summit of European leaders later this week. After mixed messages from London on what it believed was “regulatory alignment”, the phrase at the heart of the deal to avoid a hard Border in Ireland after Brexit, Mr Coveney said the text of the deal was what mattered. Speaking in Brussels, Mr Coveney said the Irish belief was this meant maintaining the status quo, effectively continued application of the rules of the single market and customs union. “We are very clear in terms of what maintaining full alignment with the rules of the single market and customs union in order to maintain North-South co-operation, an all-island economy and the full implantation of the Good Friday Agreement,” Mr Coveney said. “I think it is important that people look at the wording that is actually agreed rather than give opinions on what should be agreed.

Source: The Irish Times December 12, 2017 05:48 UTC