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Irish government rejects Brexit bilateral talks with DUP

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has rejected Brexit bilateral talks with the DUP
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has rejected Brexit bilateral talks with the DUP Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has rejected Brexit bilateral talks with the DUP

The IRISH government has rejected the prospect of bilateral discussions on Brexit with the DUP.

It comes after DUP leader Arlene Foster said she hopes to speak to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar later this week.

Mrs Foster said her party is in the process of setting up talks with the Irish government.

In a statement, however, a spokesman for the government said: "The Irish government is always willing to discuss the Good Friday Agreement and peace process with the DUP.

"However, negotiations on Brexit take place through the European Commission."

Mr Varadkar said he will travel to Northern Ireland on Friday where he will meet with political parties, but added he will not be holding any Brexit negotiations.

Speaking in the Dail, he said: "As should always be the case when you travel to Northern Ireland, we should listen to all of the parties and not just any one party.

"(I will) also speak to businesses and civil society in relation to Brexit, however I won't be carrying out in negotiations with any political party because the negotiations are between the EU and the UK."

Meanwhile, British Prime minister Theresa May has been accused by Sinn Féin of serving up only "platitudes and promises" on Brexit following her address to business leaders in Belfast yesterday.

Party vice president Michelle O'Neill said the British Prime Minister failed to outline any alternative to the border backstop.

Sinn Féin, the DUP and the other main Stormont parties will meet with Mrs May this morning.

Ahead of the encounter, Mrs O'Neill accused the Prime Minister of committing an "enormous act of bad faith" on the backstop, having previously come to Belfast to urge people to back the proposal.

"I heard no evidence, I heard no commitment, I heard no suggestion, no proposal, anything that would deliver no hard border on this island," she said.

DUP MP Emma Little Pengelly however welcomed Mrs May's decision to go back to Brussels to seek changes to the withdrawal deal.

"We want to reach a deal which can provide certainty for business but that also is in the long-term interests of Northern Ireland," she said.

"It must be one which respects the economic and constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom."

Alliance Brexit spokesperson Stephen Farry said the Prime Minister has no viable policy to avoid a hard border after Brexit.

"The Prime Minister can keep stressing her commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and to avoiding a hard border, but unless she has a coherent and realistic plan those warm words don't amount to much," he said.

Mr Farry said a 'no deal' Brexit would 'catastrophic' for Northern Ireland.

Business leaders in Northern Ireland also called for the uncertainty over Brexit to end.

Northern Ireland Retail Consortium Director Aodhán Connolly said any alternative arrangements must provide the same guarantee of frictionless, tariff-free trade and movement of people on the island as the backstop does.

"While Northern Ireland will feel the bite of a no-deal Brexit first and hardest, it will nonetheless be felt across the whole country," he said.

The Federation of Small Businesses NI Policy Chair, Tina McKenzie agreed that any practical alternatives needed to provided urgently if changes are to be made to the withdrawal agreement.

"Only one in seven small businesses have planned for a no-deal outcome, which could impact supply chains and severely restrict access to markets," she said.