"We had asked for and looked for significant progress in June. The British government have been unable to deliver on that, that is frustrating for everybody but if anything the negotiations need to intensify, particularly on the Irish backstop element of the withdrawal agreement," Simon Coveney told national broadcaster RTE.
The Irish government has warned that the British government’s inconsistency is threatening the entire Brexit negotiation process between London and Europe with collapse within less than two months.
"But let's be very clear, there will be no withdrawal agreement, no transition agreement, and no managed Brexit if the British government do not follow through on their clear commitments in writing to Ireland and the whole EU as a whole," Simon Coveney stated.
The support of EU members for Ireland's Brexit position will not change, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told a news conference following talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin.
"I am strongly against any temptation to try to isolate Ireland. Ireland has to be part of the deal," he said.
READ MORE: Irish Government Warns '50 Days' to Save Brexit Border Negotiations
The UK government had initially wanted "sufficient progress" on the Irish border backstop arrangement to be reached by next week's summit but has admitted that is now unlikely to occur until October.
