Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has expressed his hope for a positive outcome to negotiations between the UK and EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Mr Varadkar had a phone conversation with the President of the European Council, Ursula von der Leyen, this morning ahead of her holding talks with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
A Government spokesperson said Ms von der Leyen briefed the Taoiseach on the negotiations.
The spokesperson said the Taoiseach expressed his strong wish to see a "positive outcome that provides a new foundation for relations between the EU and the UK".
The statement continued: "Most importantly, he hoped for an agreement that can pave the way for restoration of the institutions under the Good Friday Agreement.
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"They agreed to stay in close touch in coming days as matters progress."
Mr Sunak is holding talks with European leaders on the protocol at the fringes of the Munich Security Conference today.
There is mounting speculation that the UK and EU could unveil a deal aimed at breaking the impasse over the contentious post-Brexit trading arrangements early next week.
However, Mr Sunak told the conference there is "still work to do" before a deal can be made on the Northern Ireland Protocol and that there are "real issues that need resolving".
'We are by no means done. There is no deal that is done. There is work to do' on reaching agreement with the European Union on the Northern Ireland Protocol, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said | #brexit | https://t.co/E59W5NOwFF pic.twitter.com/aNQLnAMsGD
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 18, 2023
"There are still challenges to work through. We have not worked through all these issues. No, there isn't a deal that has been done," Mr Sunak said.
However, he said there is an "understanding on what needs to be done".
"The way that the Protocol has been implemented is causing very real challenges for families, for people, for businesses on the ground," he added.
"We are by no means done. There is no deal that is done. There is work to do," he said.
Read more: The Northern Ireland Protocol explained
Yesterday, the Taoiseach said he believes the prospect of agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol is there, possibly within a week.
'I'm quietly confident that within the next week or two we could be in a position to sign off an agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom', Taoiseach @LeoVaradkar says | #brexit | https://t.co/mQkJ2CyFUi pic.twitter.com/EctoJdDdiJ
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 17, 2023
Mr Varadkar said the prospect of a deal brings with it the "amazing prize of getting a functioning government back up and running in the North so that the Good Friday Agreement can work as it was intended".
Mr Varadkar said would be a deal would be a big boost, "because it would allow us to normalise political and trading relationships between Britain and the European Union including Ireland, putting an end to a very difficult period that started with the Brexit referendum".
He said that most importantly it opens the prospect of getting the Assembly and the Executive in Northern Ireland up and running, so that people have a functioning government in Northern Ireland and have the Good Friday Agreement working again.
"We have managed to get to this point by keeping the whole process confidential and trust has been built up and this has helped get us to this point," Mr Varadkar said.
Mr Sunak said there was an issue of a "democratic deficit" at the heart of the Protocol.
The term "democratic deficit" is used by Northern Ireland unionists to describe the application of EU rules in the region without local politicians having an influence on them.
Mr Sunak said he had "positive conversations" with the five main Stormont parties in Belfast on Friday.
However, he was warned by the DUP leader that his proposed deal did not go far enough.
Jeffrey Donaldson said it appeared "real progress" had been made in negotiations, but reportedly added that Mr Sunak's proposal "currently falls short of what would be acceptable" to the party.
Mr Sunak is likely to push EU leaders for further concessions on the oversight role of the European Court of Justice, but this could prove a major stumbling block.
Any compromise over the court's jurisdiction could fail to persuade the DUP and Eurosceptic Conservative MPs in the European Research Group (ERG) to accept the deal.
The UK and the EU have been engaged in substantive negotiations over the workings of the protocol, which was included in the Withdrawal Agreement to ensure the free movement of goods across the Irish land border after Brexit.
He said he is working "very hard" with his ministerial colleagues on engaging with the European Union.
Mr Sunak said there was still a desire to have a "positive, constructive relationship" with the EU.
"We are a European nation. I talked in my speech about our commitment to European security," he added.
The protocol instead created economic barriers on trade being shipped from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
It has proven to be deeply unpopular with unionists, who claim it has weakened Northern Ireland's place within the UK, and the DUP has used a Stormont veto to collapse the powersharing institutions in protest at the arrangements.
Mr Donaldson said any deal had to meet the seven tests set out by his party - the key condition for restoring an executive at Stormont.
Mr Sunak is also expected to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other European leaders at the Munich summit.
