TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has told Theresa May "the ball is in your court" in terms of resolving the Brexit border issue.
Speaking during leaders questions in the Dáil on Tuesday, Mr Varadkar also warned the DUP that agreement over a border deal will be between the British government and the European Union - not one political party.
The Fine Gael leader re-iterated his "regret" that the British government had backed down from a proposal that the island of Ireland should continue to be aligned after Brexit.
The proposed agreement was put on hold after the DUP contacted Theresa May in Brussels when details of the plan came to light.
Without referring specifically to the DUP, Mr Varadkar said: "There are many political parties in Northern Ireland and we will listen to and respect all political parties in Northern Ireland and recognise that the majority did not vote to leave the European Union."
He added: "This is very important, the negotiations are taking place between a sovereign government, the UK in one hand and the European Union of which we are part.
"The negotiations are not involving one or any political party. This agreement, if we come to it, will not be involving one political party to the exclusion of others."
The Taoiseach said that had the Stormont Executive not collapsed in January, the north would have had a united, cross-community voice in terms of Brexit.
He added that people mistakenly think only one party speaks for the region.
Mr Varadkar admitted that relations between Ireland and Britain "have been strained in the last year or two" because of Brexit.
He added however that he believes Prime Minister Theresa May and her team are "negotiating in good faith".
"I look forward to hearing from them as to how they think we can proceed. The ball is now in London's court," he said.
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams TD urged the Taoiseach to retain his stance that the north should remain within the single market and customs union, and seek a deal which protects the Good Friday Agreement.
“We have always said that the DUP deal with the Tories would end in tears. However, we should not underestimate the consequences of that deal. It has been played out in Stormont and yesterday in Brussels.
“More enlightened members of the DUP know that a special arrangement needs to be struck for the north. The DUP knows that this is not a case of orange versus green. We should not underestimate the contrariness of some of their leaders," added Mr Adams.
