Michel Barnier, the EU top Brexit negotiator said “the time has now come to resolve the contradictions” over the Northern Irish border. His position was announced ahead of the visit to the island of Ireland for attending the conference on Civil Dialogue, and hear opinions from both sides.

Barnier also warned that protracted negotiations over the Irish border issue would lead to entire collapse of the Brexit Article 50 talks.

Commenting Barnier’s position, the Northern Ireland DUP party contested his position of an ‘honest broker’, understanding complexity of the issue. “…His proposal of us being in an all-Ireland regulatory scenario with a border down the Irish Sea simply does not work. I don’t think he does understand the wider unionist culture of Northern Ireland,” DUP’ leader Arlene Foster said to the UK national broadcaster.