![\"\"](\"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/2.38503896.jpg\")
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he thinks a Brexit deal can be done by November.<\/p>\nTaoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he thinks a Brexit deal can be done by November.<\/p>\n
The Irish border is the most vexed issue still facing UK and EU negotiators.<\/p>\n
The Republic\u2019s premier warned the damage caused by talks failure to Britain and Ireland would be \u201cimmense\u201d.<\/p>\n
A special meeting of European leaders in Brussels has been mooted for November if the two sides are close to reaching agreement.<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said: \u201cI do think we\u2019ll get there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ll get there in November because nobody wants us to end up with a no-deal scenario because the damage for the UK would be immense.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe damage for Ireland would also be immense and it would have a serious impact on other countries like Belgium, Holland, and France and Denmark.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I believe we will get there in November but we are in unchartered territory.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EU has interpreted a backstop, agreed in principle between the UK and Europe in December, to mean that, in the absence of a trade deal, Northern Ireland would continue to follow EU rules relating to commerce and thus prevent the imposition of a hard Irish land border.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Theresa May has said any move that would see Northern Ireland\u2019s regulations differ from the rest of the UK\u2019s, likened to putting a border in the Irish Sea, would be a bad outcome.<\/p>\n
Her parliamentary allies, Northern Ireland\u2019s Democratic Unionists, are strongly opposed to such a scenario.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister\u2019s Chequers plan has been assailed by critics and Brexiteers have reiterated their support for finding a technological solution to the border.<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said he had sought a lot of counsel in recent months from \u201cwise old heads\u201d who know Europe and know British politics and know Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI came away from those meetings with the advice that it\u2019s unchartered territory and unpredictable and do your best and I think that was probably the best advice I could have got.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said Mrs May had reinstated her commitment to having a legally operative backstop as part of the withdrawal agreement while at an informal summit of European leaders in Salzburg recently.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cAnd the EU 27 again in Salzburg gave their full solidarity behind Ireland and restated our position that there won\u2019t be a withdrawal agreement at all, no transition period for the UK if there isn\u2019t an Irish protocol, a legally operative backstop as part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, during debate in the Irish Dail parliament, the Taoiseach touched on efforts to restore Northern Ireland\u2019s stalled powersharing administration at Stormont.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI think clarity around Brexit could help.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps if by the October summit, or the November summit if there is one, we\u2019re in a position to have a roadmap as to how Brexit going to work, what the new relationships are going to look like, we might be in a better position then to bring the parties together again.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly the Government stands ready to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n