The fallback deal to ensure there is no return to any border or checkpoints in the North is now “legally firm”, the Government has said. He said, following talks between the EU and UK sides, London had now agreed that the so-called ‘backstop’ or fallback deal must be legally agreed as part of the Brexit withdrawal pact. His comments came after he met EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels. Nonetheless, there is still a significant impasse to overcome as Britain has refused to accept terms of the backstop deal which would keep the North in the EU customs union if there was no Brexit deal, a position guaranteeing no border. A spokesman for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last night said the ‘backstop’ solution to the border issue was “legally firm”.

Source: Irish Examiner March 20, 2018 00:45 UTC