Varadkar rebuts bid to revisit backstop

Fresh attempts by British prime minister Theresa May to reopen the backstop agreement have been shot down by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar ahead of an expected show of solidarity from the EU this week.

While open to listening to Ms May’s proposals over the Brexit standoff, Mr Varadkar again struck down claims that technology was a solution, warning that this would still create a hard border.

Support for Ireland’s refusal to renegotiate the Brexit withdrawal agreement and the backstop clause preventing a border in the North will be stepped up this week.

European Affairs Minister Helen McEntee will today accompany Dutch foreign affairs minister Stef Blok to the border region near Dundalk, Co Louth.

This follows a similar visit here by the German justice minister Katarina Barley last week.

Mr Varadkar will also discuss renewed support for Ireland’s position by member states with European Council president Donald Tusk in Brussels on Wednesday, as well as preparations for a no-deal scenario with commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

Other meetings could take place with EU figures.

While support is strong for Dublin’s determination to hold the line on the backstop insurance policy to prevent a hard border, there is now growing talk in Government circles about how and when Brexit can be delayed.

Mr Varadkar reiterated that Britain could remove the spectre of it crashing out of the union.

“They can take a no-deal off the table when they want,” he told RTÉ’s This Week.

British foreign affairs minister Jeremy Hunt had hinted last Thursday, in addition to confirming there would be alternative proposals for the Irish border in the days ahead, that an extension to the Brexit process beyond March 29 might be required.

Ms May is expected to seek alternatives from the EU this week, following a vote by MPs in Westminster last week to renegotiate terms around the backstop.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, she said she would be “battling for Britain” when she returns to Brussels to seek a “pragmatic” Brexit deal. She still insisted there would be no new hard border.

Ms May is due to report back to the House of Commons on her negotiations with the EU on February 13, with a further series of votes by MPs expected the following day.

Nonetheless, Mr Varadkar has insisted Ireland and the EU would not countenance any reopening of the existing divorce deal for Britain.

“Of course we will listen to the prime minister and the suggestions she will put forward, but my concern is when they talk about alternative arrangements, they are talking about revisiting things that have already been rejected and that is not going to work,” he said.

British home secretary Sajid Javid suggested that a technological solution could do away with the backstop with “a bit of goodwill from Europe”. Such plans were being worked on, Mr Javid said.

Mr Varadkar immediately shot down fresh talk of technology preventing a hard border, an option rejected by the EU during the original Brexit talks.