Update 11.50am:Theresa May is to visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday for a speech in which she will confirm her Government’s “absolute commitment” to avoiding a hard border with the Republic after Brexit. German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that agreement on the Irish border was still possible. She said that "one has to be creative, and we must listen to one another" - but that an agreement on the Irish border is still possible. Ms Morgan said last week that under the terms of the Malthouse compromise the Northern Ireland backstop would be “recast” as “free trade agreement-lite” with a commitment there would be no hard border with Ireland. Earlier on Sunday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid suggested that Border Force figures believe there are viable alternative arrangements to the Irish border backstop that would avoid the need for a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Source: Irish Examiner February 04, 2019 06:45 UTC