The Tánaiste Michéal Martin has said there is growing trust between EU and UK negotiators but he cautioned there was a long way to go before agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol might be reached.
Speaking in Brussels, Mr Martin said the agreement announced between London and Brussels on the sharing of trade data on GB-NI goods was a very important confidence building measure.
Asked if he was confident that a deal could be reached ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in April, Mr Martin said: "One can never be convinced with anything to do with this issue. At times it's been torturous and at times it's been very difficult and it remains difficult and I’ve no doubt there will be many, many difficulties yet and both sides have said there's still a lot of work to be done.
"It’s right to take a tentative approach to this. Both sides are very conscious of the difficulties that have beset this whole area. People are very cautious, correctly, in my view, and that's why I think we do need to give space to the EU and UK negotiators, to allow them time and space to go through all of the issues in great detail and hopefully, hopefully then to arrive at a landing zone."
Earlier, Mr Martin had a 90-minute lunch meeting with Maros Šefčovič, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator.
A Government source said it was constructive meeting.
Great to speak with Tánaiste @MichealMartinTD today in Brussels.
— Maroš Šefčovič🇪🇺 (@MarosSefcovic) January 10, 2023
We discussed yesterday's IT database agreement - positive news.
We are committed to finding joint solutions that work for all communities in Northern Ireland. I appreciate 🇮🇪 support. pic.twitter.com/zFgx6EZ0NC
Mr Martin said legitimate issues had been raised about the Protocol but all parties wanted the negotiations to succeed and for the Northern Ireland institutions to be restored.
He said the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis made it critical that the EU-UK relationship be put on a more positive footing.
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'Serious and honest engagement' from both sides
The Minister for Enterprise has indicated that he thinks it is more likely than not that there will be a resolution to the impasse over the Northern Ireland protocol over the coming months.
Simon Coveney said there has been a huge amount of work since September and the change of Prime Minister in the UK has changed the approach, which is very welcome he added.
"I think the EU has responded to that very generously and I think we're now seeing serious and honest engagement from both sides," he said.
"The fact that we're not hearing a lot about what's being discussed is a good thing and it means that the two negotiating teams trust each other in terms of some of the sensitive issues that they're trying to manage their way through."
He added: "But the ability to get an agreement has for quite some time relied on trust and once there's an agreement on how to share data appropriately in a way that the British Government can support, and in a way that the UK, that the EU feels that they can also facilitate, I think that is an important step forward."
He said everybody wants to try to have a new agreement in place in advance of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, but that looks like a tight timeline.
However, Mr Coveney added that the most important thing is that "we get this right".
