THE Irish government immediately poured cold water on Thersa May's plan to seek a fresh take on the Withdrawal Agreement by insisting there will be no fresh negotiations.
Within minutes of the Prime Minister being given the backing of parliament to go back to the EU leaders for fresh Brexit discussions on finding a way to ditch the backstop, her counterpart in Ireland Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's spokesman released a statement saying that nothing had changed.
The backstop is a safety mechanism to ensure that there is no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, and is an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement which Ms May previously supported.
It would see the whole of the UK stay in a customs union with the EU, while for regulatory matters, Northern Ireland only would continue to follow some EU rules that would see extra checks on goods coming into NI from the rest of Great Britain.
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Brexiteers and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist party oppose the idea because they say it would create a sea border with the UK, and also cannot be revoked unilaterally by the British Government.
However, the Irish Government said: “The EU position on the Withdrawal Agreement, including the backstop, is set out in the conclusions of the December meeting of the European Council. It has not changed,” said the Irish Government.
"The Withdrawal Agreement is not open for re-negotiation."
The statement continued: “The Agreement is a carefully negotiated compromise, which balances the UK position on customs and the single market with avoiding a hard border and protecting the integrity of the EU customs union and single market.The best way to ensure an orderly withdrawal is to ratify this Agreement.
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“We have consistently said that we want the closest possible future relationship between the EU and the UK. A change in the UK red lines could lead to a change in the Political Declaration on the framework for the future relationship, and a better overall outcome.
"We will continue our preparations for all outcomes, including for a no-deal scenario,” the statement added.
Earlier in the day, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, also warned that there will be be no renegotiation.
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