THE TAOISEACH has conceded that December 31 is the "real end deadline" in the bid to secure a EU-UK trade deal but Micheál Martin said he was hopeful the negotiators can come to an agreement in the coming days.
The Fianna Fáil leader told RTÉ that while "very significant challenges" needed to be overcome before a deal could be struck, he said both sides were "very possessed of the need to get outcomes".
With Sunday's talks deadline having been extended, Mr Martin said the so-called level playing field and fishing industry issues remained the key areas to be resolved.
He said that despite the challenges that have "bedeviled" the talks from the outset, he was "hopeful" a breakthrough can be achieved.
As the Brussels negotiations continued, First Minister Arlene Foster said the north will be an attractive location for US firms seeking access to EU and UK markets after Brexit.
The DUP leader said the region's unique status – remaining in the single market, while firms have unfettered access to Britain – had created opportunities and benefits,.
"If businesses are from America and looking for access to the UK single market and access to the EU single market then Northern Ireland seems to be a very good place," she said.
Her Stormont executive colleague Conor Murphy criticised a lack of information from the British government around Brexit, saying it is very difficult to plan for the end of the transition period just weeks away.
"We have a weekly meeting in relation to Brexit and it is always characterised by a lack of information and a lack of certainty – the sooner we have some certainty in relation to Brexit the better," he said.
Meanwhile, a Belfast-based US businessman and a lawyer turned academic have urged the taoiseach to restore EU voting rights to people in Northern Ireland.
Historian Dr Francis Costello and Ulster University law lecturer Ciaran White said the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol meant the restoration of voting rights in EU parliamentary elections for Northern Ireland "assumes a heightened importance" regardless of whether residents hold an "Irish or a British passport".
"Northern Ireland must simply have elected voices for all communities in Europe to ensure those funds are spent in the interest of all and not simply administered by an unaccountable collective of appointed bureaucrats," they say in a letter published today in The Irish News.
"These key concerns are equal in importance to the substantive matters covered in the Northern Ireland Protocol for business and trade. All of these issues also have a direct bearing the environment and the daily lives of every citizen here."
