The European Commission and the British government have agreed that the constitutional status of Northern Ireland, subject to the provisions of the Belfast Agreement, should be explicitly recognised in any new deal on the Northern Ireland protocol, which sources say is on the brink of being concluded.
It is not yet clear, however, if the guarantees will satisfy the DUP sufficiently to enable the powersharing institutions to be revived.
There is some optimism in Dublin and London following meetings between British prime minister Rishi Sunak and the leaders of the Northern parties.
DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson was non-committal after his meeting with Mr Sunak in Belfast, telling reporters that “on some very important issues there has been real progress but there remain some outstanding issues that we need to get over the line”.
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In a statement issued later, Mr Donaldson said that the agreement at present “currently falls short of what would be acceptable”, but indicated that the DUP expected to see further progress. “I want to hear that Brussels will stretch itself to recognise the concerns of unionists,” Mr Donaldson said.
Mr Sunak spent much longer with the DUP than with Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party, the SDLP or the UUP, who each held relatively brief meetings with Mr Sunak on Friday. The DUP also held a separate meeting with Mr Sunak on Thursday evening, and it is understood discussions also took place between the party and senior officials from Downing Street during his visit.
Speaking to reporters following their meetings with the prime minister, the parties said a deal had not been reached but was close. They said they had not been given any detail on the deal or shown a draft text.
[ Explainer: How a deal might be reached on the Northern Ireland ProtocolOpens in new window ]
Irish Government officials briefed on the talks said that the DUP “won’t get all they want” but that the EU had moved substantially to accommodate unionist concerns.
“The DUP will get a lot of what they want but not everything – there is a need to compromise,” a source said.
Irish sources also said that it was very clear that the primary concern of the British government was to ease tensions with the EU for economic and trade reasons.
Northern Ireland Protocol: how close are we to a deal?
On Saturday, the Taoiseach briefed President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the state-of-play ahead of her meeting with UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak.
The Taoiseach “expressed his strong wish to see a positive outcome that provides a new foundation for relations between the EU and the UK,” a spokesman said. “Most importantly, he hoped for an agreement that can pave the way for restoration of the institutions under the Good Friday Agreement.”
They agreed to stay in close touch in coming days as matters progress.
In Brussels, diplomats representing EU member states have been instructed to be ready at short notice for a potential deal to resolve the long-running standoff.
The focus now moves to Munich this weekend, where Mr Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are set to meet on the margins of a major security conference as political leaders take over talks from negotiating teams in a bid to push the last contentious details over the line.
The commission’s point man on the protocol, Maroš Šefčovič, briefed EU ambassadors after he met Britain’s foreign minister James Cleverly to take stock of progress.
The briefing by Mr Šefčovič “gave a good sense of urgency,” one diplomat said. “Prospects are good, things are close, but still not over the line.”
The talks between Mr Šefčovič and Mr Cleverly in Brussels were “constructive”, both sides said in carefully co-ordinated statements, which noted that the deal was not yet sealed and that there was still work to do.
“The shared objective clear: joint solutions, responding to the everyday concerns of people in Northern Ireland,” Mr Šefčovič wrote on Twitter.
“Intensive work continues,” Mr Cleverly said.
