All leaders of the EU 27 agree that Brexit talks will not proceed to phase two unless the UK offers further assurances on the Irish border, Ireland's foreign minister says.
Simon Coveney said Ireland will not need to use its veto to prevent negotiations moving to the issue of future trading relations because EU negotiators will themselves block the move if the UK does not offer up a workable solution ahead of December's crunch summit in Brussels.
Coveney said he received personal assurances from senior EU figures Michel Barnier, Donald Tusk and Jean Claude Juncker on Friday that the EU would hold firm on this demand.
"They have repeated the message that Ireland's problems are the EU's problem, so Ireland is not going to be isolated and forced to use a veto," he said.
"We are part of an EU negotiating team that is very clear on this issue - there needs to be more progress on the Irish issues between now and the 14th of December and if that doesn't happen we won't be moving on to the phase two discussions, which is where everybody wants to be, including Ireland."
The issue of how to maintain the a "soft" border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is a key stumbling block in Brexit negotiations, and British Prime Minister Theresa May has just a week to meet a European deadline to make progress before trade talks can begin.
EU leaders insist that a hardening of the border is inevitable if the UK leaves the single market and customs union, as checks will be required to monitor movement between jurisdictions operating under two different regulatory systems.
One solution offered by Europe is the suggestion Northern Ireland would continue to comply with EU regulations post-Brexit. The UK government has rejected such a concept as a non-runner.
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