Irish foreign minister says 'UK cannot unilaterally scrap border backstop'

Neither Ireland or the European Union would ever agree to a backstop to keep the Irish border open after Brexit that could be ended unilaterally by Britain, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Monday.

"The Irish position remains consistent and very clear that a "time-limited backstop" or a backstop that could be ended by UK unilaterally would never be agreed to by Ireland or the European Union," Coveney said on Twitter.

"These ideas are not backstops at all + don't deliver on previous UK commitments," he added, following a media report that British Brexit minister Dominic Raab had privately demanded the right to pull Britain out of the "backstop" arrangement for the Irish border after three months.