Micheál Martin: Failure to get Brexit deal over the line would be 'failure of statecraft'

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said 97% of the Brexit deal has already been agreed and the remaining 3% “should not be beyond the capacity of both sides to bridge”. File Picture: Julien Behal

Taoiseach Micheál Martin hopes that Brexit negotiations will continue beyond today's deadline to find a resolution to difficult outstanding issues of fisheries and a level playing field.

Talks between EU and UK negotiators continued long into the night, which Mr Martin said "is an important sign in itself".

With the January Brexit deadline looming, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen are expected to speak by phone around lunchtime in order to decide whether talks should continue or not.

Mr Martin said a no-deal would be "very bad for all of us" adding: "My view is that it is absolutely imperative that both sides continue to engage and both sides continue to work to negotiate to avoid a no-deal.

I think it would be an appalling failure of statecraft if we were not in a position to get a deal over the line.

The Taoiseach told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that it is "extremely important" that the future relationship between the United Kingdom and Europe is a solid one, not just in terms of tariff free and quota free trade but also in terms of politics.

He said 97% of the Brexit deal has already been agreed and the remaining 3% “should not be beyond the capacity of both sides to bridge”.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Brussels, Belgium, for a dinner with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen where they will try to reach a breakthrough on a post-Brexit trade deal.

Mr Martin said the level playing field issue is one that has "bedeviled the talks from outset", but he said he believes that "with some degree of creativity" a resolution can be found.

Pointing to the EU's agreement with Canada, he said all trade deals have dispute resolution frameworks.

"We all depend on each other in terms of access to a common market a single market. I think it's only fair that there was a mechanism or that there's a framework where into the future any perceived advantages that one side may gain over the other can be resolved through such a mechanism. 

"I think that, in my view, makes sense and objectively looking at it I don't really see how people can object to such a framework," he said.