Irish Foreign Minister Simon Conveny said today that the so called alternative arrangements for Irish backstop that UK is now seeking are options around time limits, exit clauses and technology. But he dismissed such options as “we have been through all of these things.”
He added “we have tested them and we have found that they do not stand up to scrutiny, and now we have a British prime minister advocating again for the same things that were tested.”
Conveny then complained that “What we are being asked to do here is to compromise on a solution that works and to replace it with wishful thinking. That’s what’s being asked of the Irish government and we won’t do it.”
In addition, he emphasized UK Prime Minister Theresa May has “outlined repeatedly that the backstop is not only desirable but necessary to reassure people in Northern Ireland so surely the responsible thing for the Irish government to do is to hold the British government to its word.”
