Ireland's Varadkar says he believes UK-EU trade deal is possible

Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on Wednesday said he believed it was possible that Britain and the European Union will secure a trade deal in the coming days and put the chances of success at around 50%.

"Ultimately it takes a little bit of politics at the end and both sides to move a little bit at the end. But I think that is possible," Varadkar, a significant player in earlier Brexit talks when he was prime minister, told RTE radio.

He said he thought Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin's assessment that the chances of a deal were 50-50 was "absolutely correct".