Davis differs on hard border

Significant divergence has emerged between Ireland and the UK after Britain’s Brexit minister indicated that the agreement committing to no hard border does not have to be kept.

Brexit minister David Davis described the phase one Brexit agreement, signed on Friday, which promised to prevent a hard border with the North, as “a statement of intent” rather than a legally-binding deal.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described the agreement as “politically bulletproof”, claiming it ensures there will be no return to a hard border and last night a spokesman said the EU would be holding the UK to this commitment,

A spokesman for the Taoiseach said: “Both Ireland and the EU will be holding the UK to the phase one agreement. As the Taoiseach indicated on Friday, even if the worse case scenario occurs and there is no final deal, there must still be full alignment north and south.”

The spokesman added that the Taoiseach is “confident” that the guarantees hammered out between British prime minister Theresa May and the EU Brexit task force remain “rock-solid”.

However, Fianna Fáil Brexit spokesman Stephen Donnelly raised concern in the wake of Mr Davis’ remarks, stating: “There is a fundamental and radical difference of interpretation between London and Dublin.”

He added that “nothing is bullet-proof” and Friday’s document should be treated with a cautious optimism.

EU leaders are due to officially sign off on entering phase two of Brexit talks in Brussels later this week.