Post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland: confidence in Dublin, caution in London

Towards an outcome for the thorny issue of post-Brexit provisions in Northern Ireland?

The Irish Prime Minister said he was "

" on Friday that an agreement could be reached quickly between London and Brussels, his British counterpart warning that there is still "

" to achieve it.

Three years after Brexit, the Northern Irish Protocol, which creates an internal customs border in the UK between the province and the island of Great Britain, remains the main point of contention between the British government and the European Union.

He is also behind the decision of the Unionists of the DUP to paralyze the local political institutions of the province with a bloody past, which has the only British land border with the EU.

But the scathing statements have given way since Rishi Sunak arrived in Downing Street in October to a more accommodating tone on both sides and negotiations have appeared to pick up speed.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he was “

”.

"

", "

", tempered the head of the British government Rishi Sunak, after meeting the leaders of the five main local parties near Belfast.

"Still a long way"

According to some media, Rishi Sunak could finalize an agreement during final consultations with the Europeans on the sidelines of the Munich security conference over the weekend and then announce an agreement next Tuesday, at Parliament in London.

“

”, reacted after the meeting Naomi Long, of the northern party -Irish Alliance (non-aligned center).

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Rishi Sunak “

”, tempered Doug Beattie, of the Ulster Unionist Party.

Irish Sinn Fein (Republican) leader Mary Lou McDonald hailed "

".

Frontally opposed to the protocol, which according to them calls into question the place of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, the unionists of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) have been blocking the formation of any local executive for a year and announce themselves difficult to join any agreement.

Stressing that Northern Ireland was at "

", their leader Jeffrey Donaldson acknowledged "

",

"Confidence has been established"

Negotiated and signed at the same time as the agreement to leave the United Kingdom from the European Union, the protocol keeps the British province in the single European market while providing controls for goods from Great Britain.

Never fully applied, the text aims both to preserve the 1998 peace agreement which put an end to three decades of bloody conflict (3,500 dead), by avoiding the return of a hard border, and to protect the integrity of the European single market.

But faced with the rejection of the Unionists, London asked to reopen the discussions, threatening to the great displeasure of the Europeans to unilaterally reconsider this treaty which it signed.

Pushed by the DUP, London is asking the EU in particular to ease customs controls between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, castigated by the unionists.

The British are also calling for the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which oversees the application of the protocol, to be removed or reduced.

The talks in Belfast aim to "

", underlined a door- floor of Downing Street.

Another sign of acceleration of the discussions, the British Foreign Minister James Cleverly spoke on Friday of an "

" in progress, after meeting in Brussels the vice-president of the European commission, Maros Sefcovic.

The head of Irish diplomacy Micheal Martin confirmed that “

” between London and Brussels but warned that there “

”.