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The Taoiseach has said the UK Government should drop its Brexit \u201cred lines\u201d if it wants to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement.<\/p>\nThe Taoiseach has said the UK Government should drop its Brexit \u201cred lines\u201d if it wants to reopen the Withdrawal Agreement.<\/p>\n
Leo Varadkar said the current deal, negotiated by Theresa May\u2019s Government, was arrived at because of the British negotiating position.<\/p>\n
It comes as the finance minister Paschal Donohoe said a Brexit deal that sees the UK enter into a transition agreement with the EU while a future relationship is negotiated \u201cis still possible\u201d.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the i newspaper in Belfast, Mr Varadkar said: \u201cWe ended up with the Withdrawal Agreement and the backstop because of all the red lines that were drawn up by the British Government.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow if we\u2019re going back to square one and those red lines are being changed, then we\u2019ve something to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said if no deal happens \u201cit will be as a consequence of decisions made in London\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added that he was open to talks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as he believed there had been some suggestion the Withdrawal Agreement was an \u201cinvention\u201d of the Government or had been imposed by the European Union.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not the case,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s an attempt to make out that it\u2019s undemocratic too but it\u2019s been agreed by 28 governments, including the UK Government, and the European Parliament, all of which followed democratic procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier, Mr Donohoe said while a deal was \u201cstill possible\u201d, the prospect of no deal had increased.<\/p>\n
He was in London as he met UK Chancellor Sajid Javid to discuss the UK Government\u2019s latest plans for exiting the EU.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the BBC\u2019s Newsnight program, he said a deal could be done.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI believe it is still possible that we could see agreements in which Britain enters into a transition agreement in advance of them finally departing before the European Union.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut as I stand now, I\u2019d have to be equally clear in saying that I do believe that the prospect of a no-deal Brexit has grown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that a no-deal Brexit and the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a deal is a very credible and material risk now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Donohoe said the appointment of Mr Johnson as Prime Minister had \u201cadded a new dynamic\u201d to Brexit talks.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe Prime Minister Johnson feels differently about the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union and the future trust of that relationship to how Prime Minister May would have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I believe that has added a new dynamic into where we are in Brexit.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in acknowledging that there is a new dynamic, I am also crystal clear that the views of the Irish government and the views of Ireland in relation to the backstop, the Withdrawal Agreement and our future in the European Union, which have been affirmed again and again, that would not be changing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists at the Irish embassy after his meeting with Mr Javid, Mr Donohoe warned the relationship between the UK and Ireland would \u201cfundamentally change\u201d in the event of a no-deal Brexit.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Michael Gove accused the EU of refusing to engage in negotiations on a new Brexit deal.<\/p>\n
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who is in charge of no-deal preparations, said he was \u201cdeeply saddened\u201d by the EU position, which was \u201cnot in Europe\u2019s interests\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will put all our energy into making sure that we can secure that good deal but at the moment it is the EU that seems to be saying they are not interested,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are simply saying \u2018No, we don\u2019t want to talk\u2019. I think that is wrong and sad.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tuesday evening, at a political discussion in Belfast, Mr Varadkar said calls by Sinn F\u00e9in for a border poll in the event of a no-deal Brexit were \u201cdivisive\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cI think it would result in some of the mistakes made 100 years ago, when partition happened, being repeated but just the other way around \u2013 a huge number of people, those from a unionist, British, Ulster background, being brought into a united Ireland against their will.\u201d<\/p>\n