Hopes grow for a Brexit deal on the north as British PM to meet EU leaders

EU President Ursula von der Leyen, French president Emmanuel Macron, and German chancellor Olaf Scholz are scheduled to attend the summit

British prime minister Rishi Sunak is now expected to hold talks with EU leaders on the margins of the Munich security conference to try to resolve the long-running dispute over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading arrangements

Irish Government sources have described as “positive” reports that British prime minister Rishi Sunak is due to meet EU leaders in Bavaria this week in a final push for a Brexit deal on Northern Ireland.

Sources described as “kosher”, reports in the Financial Times that a deal on the protocol is more realistic than at any time in recent months amid a “growing sense of positivity” between EU and UK negotiators.