UK and Irish leaders sound upbeat about Brexit deal

The likelihood of the United Kingdom and the European Union ending their marriage with a divorce deal in place improved when Britain's prime minister and Ireland's national leader met for talks on Thursday and said they could "see a pathway to a possible deal".

It was one of the most optimistic comments to have been heard in Brexit circles in recent weeks and hints that the two leaders, Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar, might be able to find a way for the UK to leave the bloc while avoiding the reestablishment of a hard border on the island of Ireland. The future of the border between Northern Ireland, which will leave the EU along with the rest of the UK on Oct 31, and the Republic of Ireland, has always been one of the main stumbling blocks to the UK and the EU finding an agreement to govern their future trading arrangements and avoid the so-called hard Brexit that business leaders have warned against.

In the aftermath of the positive comments that followed the leaders' two-hour meeting at a wedding venue in England's Merseyside, the UK's Brexit secretary, Steve Barclay, met with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels on Friday morning.

Varadkar said the "very positive" meeting he had with Johnson meant serious negotiations could resume.

The Express quoted him as saying: "I think it is possible for us to come to an agreement, to have a treaty to allow the UK to leave the EU in an orderly fashion, and to have that done by the end of October, but there's many a slip between cup and lip."

The BBC reported that Barclay and Barnier were conducting "technical" talks on Friday, suggesting there could be a proposed agreement on the table when EU leaders meet for a summit on Oct 17 and 18.

European Council President Donald Tusk said on Friday he was aware of the sentiment emanating from the meeting between Varadkar and Johnson.

The Guardian newspaper quoted him as saying: "I have received promising signals from the Taoiseach (Irish leader) that a deal is still possible. Technical talks are taking place in Brussels as we speak. Of course, there is no guarantee of success and the time is practically up, but even the slightest chance must be used."

Johnson had earlier proposed that Northern Ireland leaves the EU's customs union along with the rest of the UK but that it continues to follow EU legislation with regard to agricultural and some other products, and that customs checks are carried out, with the help of technology, far from the border. He said he wanted the suggestions to be a starting point for further talks, an idea that initially seemed to be unpopular with EU leaders.