Revised Brexit deal doesn’t undermine backstop: Irish PM

Dublin, March 12 (IANS) Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Tuesday the revised Brexit deal does not undermine the backstop nor reopen the withdrawal agreement.

The backstop -- an insurance policy to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland -- will continue to apply "unless and until" it is replaced by future arrangements that ensure no hard border, he told the media here.

He welcomed the agreement reached between the UK and the European Union (EU) on Monday night as "positive" and urged the British Parliament to vote for it on Tuesday night to lift the "dark cloud" of Brexit, reports the Guardian.

Varadkar echoed European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in saying that a freshly negotiated legal add-on to the Brexit deal was "complementary" and not a rewrite.

"It does not reopen the withdrawal agreement, or undermine the backstop or its application. It says that we will work together, in good faith, in pursuit of a future relationship that ensures that the objectives of the protocol, particularly the need to avoid a hard border, are met."

Lisa Chambers, Brexit spokesperson for Ireland's main opposition party, Fianna Fail, said the EU had granted some leeway to UK Prime Minister Theresa May.

"It'll be that little bit easier for the UK to exit the backstop," she said.

If the vote on Tuesday fails, May has pledged to give the House of Commons an opportunity to vote on two additional resolutions: One on a no-deal Brexit; the other on delaying Brexit beyond the March 29 date enshrined in law.

The UK is set to leave the EU on March 29.