Border won’t be fully solved before summit

The Irish border issue will not be fully resolved before a crunch meeting of EU leaders this month, the Tánaiste has told the Dáil.

However, Simon Coveney says talk of the Government using its veto “misunderstands the reality” that Ireland has the backing of all the EU states.

EU leaders are to gather in Brussels on December 14 with the hope of signing off on progress in Brexit talks to date to allow the second phase of negotiations begin.