Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said it is his understanding that the UK will not trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The protocol is a post-Brexit trade arrangement, which was agreed by the UK and the EU in order to avoid the reintroduction of a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Mr Coveney's comments came as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that while the Northern Ireland Protocol could "in principle work", it will be a case of "fixing it or ditching it".
When asked whether he would trigger Article 16, Mr Johnson said that depends on whether the EU is prepared to negotiate.
However, Minister Coveney said it would be a "hugely problematic backward step", adding that he thinks this is not likely to happen "despite the rumour mill out there".
Speaking in Manchester yesterday, he told RTÉ News it would be "backward step" in relationships between the UK government and EU institutions at a time when "we are trying to build trust between the Šefcovic and Frost teams".
"The idea of that in the middle of that, when I think both sides know that this month is going to be a very important month, particularly the second half of it, I think that would be politically a huge mistake", he said.
'Fix it or ditch it' - Johnson says on NI Protocol
Speaking in an interview with BBC News Northern Ireland yesterday, Mr Johnson did not rule out triggering Article 16.
He said: "The fundamental problem for us is that it is very difficult to operate in an environment where the EU system can decide when and how many checks can be carried out across the Irish Sea.
"Goods are being pointlessly interrupted, and it is crazy to have cancer drugs which you can't move from one part of the UK to another."
But Mr Johnson said that it was possible for the protocol to function.
He said: "The protocol could in principle work.
"It has got enough leeway in the language for it to be applied in a commonsense way without creating too many checks down the Irish Sea."
But he warned it will be a case of "fixing it or ditching" the protocol.
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Asked if he planned to trigger Article 16 during the Conservative Party's conference next week, Mr Johnson replied: "That depends on the response from the EU."
He told the BBC that he signed up to the protocol because he has an "optimistic view of human nature and thought they (EU) would want to respect the Belfast Good Friday Agreement".
He added the protocol was framed to operate "free trade east to west just as much as north to south and that was very, very clear but unfortunately that is not the way it is being operated".
The protocol is a post-Brexit trade arrangement, which was agreed by the UK and the EU in order to avoid the reintroduction of a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Under the terms of the protocol, Northern Ireland must still apply EU single market rules at its ports, in order to avoid the need for checks along the border as goods enter the EU.
In practice, this means some products moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland have been subject to new checks, which has angered many unionists who feel this is damaging trade, supply lines and Northern Ireland's position within the UK.
Additional reporting Sean Whelan
