SIMON Coveney has urged London and Brussels to conclude the negotiations around post-Brexit trading arrangements by the end of February, warning that if they drag on longer the Stormont election will "become a referendum on the protocol".
The Minister for Foreign Affairs has also reiterated Dublin's opposition to the British government's legacy proposals, saying it would be a "big mistake" if a statute of limitations and others controversial measures are introduced.
With talks between the British government and Brussels expected to resume in the coming days, the Fine Gael deputy leader said it was time for the UK to make concessions.
"We all know that we need to bring this discussion and negotiation to an end," he told the Financial Times, highlighting the record of Britain's new chief Brexit negotiator Liz Truss in concluding trade deals.
He stressed the need for greater urgency due to Stormont's forthcoming elections and said if the negotiations are not concluded by the end of February "the election in Northern Ireland will become a referendum on the protocol".
"I think the month of January and February really is the timeline that we’re working in, to try to bring these discussions to a close," he said.
"And there’s no reason why that shouldn’t happen. Because there’s nothing new on the table here."
The British foreign secretary, who was handed the Brexit portfolio following Lord David Frost's surprise resignation, is expected to visit the north early in the new year.
To date, she has not signalled any change in the British government’s negotiating stance, but has repeated the demand that the European Court of Justice not be the “final arbiter of disputes”.
“I don’t see how the EU can agree to removing a role for the ECJ in interpreting EU rules and regulations,” Mr Coveney said.
Regarding links with London, he said: “I see my role as a candid friend... I’m not going to tell the British government what they want to hear.
"I think my role has got to be to explore realistic potential solutions."
On the British government’s controversial plan for an amnesty for Troubles-era crimes, the foreign affairs minster said: "For the British government to decide to move ahead on the basis of a policy that nobody supports in Northern Ireland?...?and that the Irish government has been very clear, both privately and publicly, that we cannot support, would be a big mistake."
