Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If it was to fall through and the British Government were to take the same interpretation of it, that would be great. However, it has not. It has an entirely different interpretation of it.

That means it can do its own thing trade-wise, there is no border in the Irish Sea yet there would be no border on the island of Ireland, which are two contradictory outcomes. We then have disagreement about what the legal text might be. The legal text is not going to be agreed until the final agreement. It is not a backstop as such if it is left to the very end. A backstory is normally agreed in advance so that parties know that this will be the backstop. If the detail of the backstop is not-----