UK to compromise on Irish border to win Brexit deal: Source

A source in the British government has revealed that Prime Minister Theresa May is preparing to offer the European Union some concessions on the thorny issue of the Irish border to finally win a much-needed deal on the country’s withdrawal from the bloc.

The senior government official told Bloomberg on Monday that May would accept EU demands for imposing some checks on goods moving between British mainland and Northern Ireland.

The source said the offer is meant to unblock the impasse in the ongoing negotiations between the United Kingdom and the EU.

The issue of border between the EU state of Ireland and the UK province of Northern Ireland remain a key stumbling block in talks on Brexit. May has resisted EU pressure for having the Northern Ireland treated differently than the rest of the United Kingdom once the country leaves the EU in March.

However, the EU insists that the only solution to avoid a hard border on the island, which could revive old sectarian tension in the region, is to move the regulatory checks to the Irish Sea, something that would make trade between Northern Ireland and British mainland problematic and force the Irish nationalist out of May’s fragile coalition government.

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However, the government source said Monday that May’s government is preparing to offer concessions to the EU so that the bloc will be allowed to carry out some regulatory checks on goods moving between British mainland and Northern Ireland.

During a recent EU summit in Austria, officials reportedly endorsed the idea that they could move checks inland to address Britain’s concerns about the creation of a border in the Irish Sea. However, the EU reiterated that May’s proposals on key issues like trade and the Irish border should be reworked so that the two sides could reach a withdrawal agreement.

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