UK not on collision course with Ireland over Brexit – N. Ireland minister

The UK’s new Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith said on Friday that Britain’s government is not on a collision course with the EU. The statement came after the Republic of Ireland’s foreign minister criticized PM Boris Johnson’s Brexit approach.

“I think we need to find solutions particularly for the issue of the border, but the prime minister was very, very clear to his cabinet yesterday that he wants to get a deal done,” Smith said in Derry, Northern Ireland.

Irish FM Simon Coveney said Johnson’s approach to Brexit talks was “very unhelpful” and would not lead to an agreement, Reuters reported.

Johnson told Britain’s parliament on Thursday that he did not want to retain the post-Brexit ‘backstop’ that would preserve an open border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in the event of longer-term trade talks collapsing.