Brexit: UK landbridge a 'day-one, month-one danger' for Ireland

Anti-Brexit protesters outside the BEIS Conference Centre in London, where post-Brexit trade deal talks were taking place.

The Government is hugely concerned that UK landbridge gridlock will significantly impact the passage of Irish goods to Europe from next month.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, who travelled to Brussels yesterday, is to bring a comprehensive memo to Cabinet on preparations for Brexit with or without a deal.

However, Government sources have acknowledged that delays in processing paperwork by UK authorities will lead to long delays for Irish hauliers.

"The landbridge is a day-one, month-one danger," a senior source said last night. "We don't have a work-around from UK traffic jams."

Last night, UK prime minister Boris Johnson said he would travel to Brussels to meet European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in person after a 90-minute phone call ended with no agreement.

A statement issued by the two read: “As agreed on Saturday, we took stock today of the ongoing negotiations. We agreed that the conditions for finalising an agreement are not there due to the remaining significant differences on three critical issues: Level playing field, governance, and fisheries.

We asked our chief negotiators and their teams to prepare an overview of the remaining differences to be discussed in a physical meeting in Brussels in the coming days.

However, despite this, Mr Coveney said the mood in Brussels is beginning to become more resigned to a no-deal scenario.

"In Brussels, at least, the mood is starting to shift towards contingency planning for a no-deal as opposed to the compromises needed to reach a deal," he said. 

"There is a need, particularly on the British side, for a political intervention that can find ways to break the impasse."

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney: 'There is a need, particularly on the British side, for a political intervention that can find ways to break the impasse.'

While talks continue, one senior source said: "Brussels was incredibly downbeat on the possibility of a deal.

"There is a frustration and tiredness and the feeling that things had gone backwards over the weekend."

Mr Coveney's Brexit memo calls on all ministers to engage with all sectors, but also takes a top-down approach to serious issues including Brexit-related job losses, agri-food mitigation measures, as well as the impact Britain's exit will have on Irish GDP, haulage, and business.

The memo due to go to Cabinet this morning will also include a short note on a contingency plan for the Covid vaccine.

It is understood that vaccines will not be delivered to Ireland via the UK landbridge and instead will go "directly from one EU country to another either by port or air". 

This is due to concerns that Brexit could result in either Calais or Dover ports being blocked off by traffic, with a source saying that officials do not want the vaccine being held up by those delays.