Ireland border

Speaking at an event in Dundalk, Michel Barnier said the UK must soften its red lines if there was any chance of breaking an impasse on the Irish border issue. And he denied accusations from unionists that he wasn’t an “honest broker”. Matt Frei reports from Dundalk.

The decision to double the amount Britain pays for the divorce bill now leaves the issue of the Irish border as the last remaining stumbling block preventing the EU moving on to Brexit trade talks. But those talks were threatened by the Irish government’s insistence that Britain needed to confirm in writing that there wouldn’t…