Talks to secure a free trade deal between the UK and the EU will continue today, even after a self-imposed “deadline” for reaching an agreement ended yesterday (Sunday, December 13).

Both sides had agreed last week that they would conduct intensive talks up to yesterday, but a joint statement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson indicated that talks will continue.

In yesterday’s statement, the two leaders said: “We had a constructive and useful phone call this morning. We discussed the major unresolved topics. Our negotiating teams have been working day and night over recent days.

Despite the exhaustion after almost a year of negotiations, despite the fact that deadlines have been missed over and over, we think it is responsible at this point to go the extra mile.

“We have accordingly mandated our negotiators to continue the talks and to see whether an agreement can, even at this late stage, be reached,” the statement added.

Negotiations will continue in Brussels over the coming days.

‘Talks must continue’

Significant changes are expected in the trading relationship between Ireland and the UK even with a deal, but in the event of a no-deal these changes would be far more pronounced, with the agri-food sector being particularly exposed.

Reacting to the news that talks would continue, Tim Cullinan, president of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), said: “There is no point in setting deadlines for the talks. They must continue until there is an agreement.”

He added: “The reality is that even if we don’t have a deal by January 1, the talks will have to continue until a deal is reached.

It would be disastrous for Irish farming if a deal is not done in time for January 1. We hear a lot of talk about ‘optics’ and ‘perception’ in relation to the negotiations, but all this grandstanding has to stop.

“It is time to put egos aside. History will judge everyone very harshly if a deal is not done,” Cullinan warned.

“Irish farming will be the worst-affected sector in the worst affected-country. We met with the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) on Friday to discuss the Northern Ireland protocol and the talks. Farmers here, in Northern Ireland, in the UK and across Europe all need a deal,” the IFA president concluded.