Coveney Hopes for Brexit Breakthrough as Clock Ticks Down

(Bloomberg) -- Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said while he hoped enough progress would be reached in coming hours to allow Brexit talks move on, the U.K. government has yet to provide enough clarity on the border question.

The Irish cabinet is due to hold a special meeting on Monday in Dublin for an update on Brexit negotiations, though that doesn't necessarily signal an imminent breakthrough, Coveney said in an RTE radio interview on Sunday.

Ireland needs “at least” some answers, Coveney said. “We are not asking the impossible” of Prime Minister Theresa May.

May is working against the clock to find a way of avoiding a policed border on the island after Brexit, without alienating the Northern Irish party that props up her government in London. The Democratic Unionist Party has publicly threatened to bring down her government if she gives in to the Republic of Ireland's demands that Northern Ireland play be the same rules as those operating south of the border after Brexit.

Only when the EU accepts the U.K.'s proposed solution will Brexit negotiations move on to the trade talks that Britain wants to start this month. European Council President Donald Tusk threw his weight behind the Irish government on Friday, saying the bloc will be led by Ireland on the issue.

The U.K. has pushed back against EU demands that it needs to put its offer on the table by Monday, when May is due to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for lunch.

U.K. officials has tried to accelerate Brexit negotiations by suggesting that rather than wielding its veto next month, Ireland could hold fire and block a final accord if it wished, three people familiar with the talks said.

European officials said while such an approach could eventually be part of the solution, it won't be enough to break the logjam next month

To contact the reporter on this story: Dara Doyle in Dublin at ddoyle1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net.

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