Taoiseach Leo Varadkar travels to Berlin to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel today.
Discussions will focus on the agenda for this week’s meeting of the European Council, including Brexit.
They will be discussing their approach to the future of the European Union following yesterday’s Brexit treaty deal.
A spokesperson for the Taoiseach says Britain’s commitment to a Brexit border ‘backstop’ is legally firm and will apply until something better is agreed.
The ‘transition’ deal allows talks on the UK’s future trade relationship with the EU to be triggered later this week.
Some issues remain undecided – including the border – but Tánaiste Simon Coveney says that does not mean it has been kicked into the long grass.
Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin has warned that we are no closer to coming up with a way to put the ‘backstop’ in place that would be agreeable to all sides.