The text of what was agreed between the European Commission and Britain on the initial phase of the Brexit process is what should be heeded rather than individual opinions on the document, Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said.
Mr Coveney is in Brussels for a meeting of the General Affairs Council of the European Union, which will prepare the ground for a summit of European leaders later this week.
The European Council summit is expected to approve the recommendation from the European Commission that "sufficient progress" has been made in the Brexit talks to proceed to the next phase, which will focus on a post-Brexit transition phase and the future UK-EU relationship.
After mixed messages from London on what it believed was "regulatory alignment", the phrase at the heart of the deal to avoid a hard Border in Ireland after Brexit, Mr Coveney said the text of the deal was what mattered.
Regulatory alignment
The agreement commits the UK to maintain regulatory alignment between Northern Ireland and the Republic in the event of Britain leaving the EU without a deal, while also saying Northern Ireland would be treated no differently than the rest of Britain.
Speaking in Brussels, Mr Coveney said the Irish belief was this meant maintaining the status quo, effectively continued application of the rules of the single market and customs union.
“We are very clear in terms of what maintaining full alignment with the rules of the single market and customs union in order to maintain North-South co-operation, an all-island economy and the full implantation of the Good Friday Agreement,” Mr Coveney said.
“We are clear what that means. It means, essentially, protecting the status quo. That’s what the all-island economy is all about. That is an economy that develops all the time.
“I think it is important that people look at the wording that is actually agreed rather than give opinions on what should be agreed. The wording is very clear, it is quite broad in terms of its scope.”
Labour leader Brendan Howlin said the Government must "now seek binding reassurances from both the UK and EU that what was painstakingly agreed last week will be legally enforced and guaranteed to provide the commitment necessary to avoid a hard border".