Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is difficult to see where we go from here. The EU deputy chief negotiator, Sabine Weyand, said that the UK had significant input into shaping the backstop and it was its preference for the whole of the UK to remain in the customs union rather than having a specific arrangement for Northern Ireland. It is deeply challenging when those who negotiated the backstop are now seeking to undermine it and amend it in some way without evening proposing what that amendment might be.

Ms Weyand also clearly stated that there is no negotiation between the EU and the UK, and that the negotiation is finished. However, for some reason this seems to have fallen on deaf ears in the UK. The British are still very much beating the drum that the negotiation can be reopened, that the withdrawal agreement can be renegotiated in some way and that the backstop can be altered or that conditions could be attached or in some way time limited. I would be deeply concerned if the Graham Brady amendment were to be supported and voted through. The Irish Government is still very much behind that agreement and we would love to see it passed. However, if that amendment is passed, it would leave the withdrawal agreement as negotiated in a very precarious position.

From our perspective, the onus is now on the Irish Government to outline what happens next, in the event that the position of the UK Government is that it wants to reopen the issue of the backstop. Where do we go from here?

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