'Difficult to reopen' protocol talks if deal rejected, Taoiseach warns

 Pictured is Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the courtyard of Government buildings today, as he delivered a statement on the agreement reached today between the EU and the UK, 'the Windsor Framework' at Government Buildings this evening. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie

It will be "difficult to reopen" the Windsor Framework if unionists reject it, the Taoiseach has warned.

Leo Varadkar was speaking at Government Buildings after the deal was announced, but said that any further negotiations would be hard to foresee. DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr has already warned that the deal "doesn't cut the mustard" for unionists.

Mr Varadkar said that the DUP "will have the opportunity to examine this and form a view on it" but that while he would not speculate on what would happen if unionists reject the deal, he said that the agreement had been "hard-won".

"But ultimately, this is an agreement between the EU including Ireland on the one hand, and the UK Government on the other. So that's where the decision will lie, ultimately. I really don't want to get into (potential for future talks) at the moment, but I think what I can say with confidence is that this agreement was hard won and took a huge amount of work on both sides to get to this point.

"And, as always the case something that's very, very hard to reopen."

The Taoiseach said that the deal ironed out problems with the Northern Irish Protocol, which had made trade between Britain and the North more complicated.

"The Irish Government will do all we can to make these new arrangements work in the interest of people and enterprises in Northern Ireland, here in the Republic of Ireland while protecting the European Single Market and the Common Travel Area between Ireland and the United Kingdom and the Good Friday Agreement," he said.

He said that the deal had been the result of hard work on all sides and praised UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for building trust with the EU.

"I want to pay tribute to both teams who have worked hard and in good faith to bring us to this point. I also want to recognise the Northern Irish parties for their constructive engagement."

“I firmly believe that the people in Northern Ireland don’t want to return to the divisions of the past. They want to make progress together. They want a shared future.

“Like people everywhere, they want political institutions to sort out the issues that matter most in their daily lives. The state of the health service, cost of living crisis, housing and the economy."

Earlier, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said an EU-UK deal on the Northern Ireland Protocol represents a “genuine” attempt to address key unionist concerns.