Although describing Brexit and the issue of the Irish border as “extraordinarily complex", the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said that he is determined to avoid the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

“I'm not optimistic, I'm not pessimistic, I'm determined," Barnier said in a press conference before the fourth All-Island Dialogue on Brexit in Dundalk on Monday.

However, Barnier did warn that until an agreement between the UK and EU was reached, then there remains a risk that there could be a disorderly Brexit without a withdrawal treaty.

He said that the current issues with Brexit negotiations were due to the UK government’s own red line issues, such as leaving the EU’s Customs Union. “We are ready to work with any new proposals from the UK,” he said.

Barnier dismissed recent comments made by Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster that he had an aggressive approach to the negotiations. “I profoundly regret Brexit for any reason, but I have not been aggressive,” he told reporters.

Backstop

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Simon Coveney also spoke before the event and reiterated comments from Barnier that the backstop option would have to be included in a legal text.

The backstop option was agreed by the EU and UK in a draft treaty in December. It would align Northern Ireland to the rules of the EU’s Customs Union and Single Market in the event of a no deal Brexit to avoid a hard border in Ireland.

“It needs to be in a withdrawal agreement for there to be an agreement,” Varadkar said.

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