Britain's Brexit Secretary David Davis has said the British government continues to back the Good Friday Agreement.
Mr Davis was questioned on recent comments by members of his Conservative Party about the 1998 deal.
He said that "everything we are doing is aiming towards ensuring we meet every aspect" of the agreement.
David Davis says British govt aiming towards meeting every aspect of Good Friday Agreement pic.twitter.com/F9ccyxFcsh
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 20, 2018
His comments to business leaders in Vienna come after Tánaiste Simon Coveney said on Twitter that some pro-Brexit politicians are risking peace in Northern Ireland by questioning the future of the Good Friday Agreement.
Talking down Good Friday Agreement because it raises serious and genuine questions of those pursuing #Brexit is not only irresponsible but reckless and potentially undermines the foundations of a fragile peace process in Northern Ireland that should never be taken for granted
— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) February 20, 2018
Mr Coveney's tweet was directed at Labour MP Kate Hoey and Conservative MPs Daniel Hannan and Owen Paterson after they raised questions over the future of the 20-year-old accord.
Mr Paterson, a former Northern Ireland secretary, recently retweeted a commentator's suggestion that the agreement had outlived its use.
He also tweeted that Northern Ireland deserved good government and health services were falling behind the rest of the UK without a devolved executive.
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Mr Davis also said that Britain and the European Union could reach a deal to access each others' markets and promised his government would not use Brexit to cut regulation, despite past threats to do so.
In the latest of several speeches by British ministers intended to lay out Britain's plans, Mr Davis said fears the government will plunge Britain into a "Mad Max-style world borrowed from dystopian fiction" after leaving the EU are unfounded.
Instead, he proposed a system of "mutual recognition" where both sides agree common regulatory outcomes, such as consumer protection or financial stability, but are able to pursue their own policies to reach those goals.
"This will be a crucial part of ensuring our future economic partnership is as open, and trade remains as frictionless, as possible," Mr Davis said.
"Britain's plan, its blueprint for life outside of Europe, is a race to the top in global standards, not a regression from the high standards we have now."
His comments are designed to allay European politicians' concerns that Britain could cut taxes and regulation to attract global businesses.
His speech comes after British Prime Minister Theresa May's former deputy Damian Green suggested that Mr Davis should publish economic forecasts about the potential impact of Brexit.
Mr Green, who was sacked in December, urged Mr Davis to publish the data, sections of which have been leaked to the press in recent weeks.
