Negotiations between the European Union and the UK on a Brexit withdrawal agreement are “ongoing” and “have not concluded”, according Tanaiste Simon Coveney.

Speaking this evening (Tuesday, November 11) following a flurry of media reports that UK and EU officials have agreed to a draft text on a Brexit agreement, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade with responsibility for Brexit has moved to clarify the situation.

In a statement, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade responsibility for Brexit said: “Negotiations between the EU and UK on a withdrawal agreement are ongoing and have not concluded.

Negotiators are still engaged and a number of issues are outstanding.

“We are not commenting further on leaks in the media,” the deputy prime minister stated.

‘The greater good’

Meanwhile, Ireland’s farm organisations are watching deliberations very closely – particularly in relation to the Northern Ireland border backstop issue.

Also Read: Brexit backstop: No ‘blurring of lines’ will be accepted

Pat McCormack, president of the Irish Creamery Milk Supplier Association (ICMSA), issued a statement this evening saying if reports of Brexit breakthrough are true then “every farmer in Ireland will feel the weight lifting from their shoulders”.

The reports if confirmed would come as an enormous relief to the Irish farming and food-production sector which has been living on its nerves as the exit date approached with no sign of a deal being reached.

McCormack said that it was “imperative” that all parties put aside narrow self-interest and any sense of “winning or losing” and instead commit to a settlement that serves “the greater good” in both the UK and the EU’s 27 member states.

“If these reports are confirmed, then every farmer in Ireland is entitled to feel the weight lifting from their shoulders just a little in the hope that a deal will be reached,” he concluded.