DUBLIN/EDINBURGH: Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said he was “surprised and disappointed” on Monday after Britain appeared to change its mind about an agreement on the status of the Irish border after Brexit.

“I am surprised and disappointed that the British government now appears not to be in a position to conclude what was agreed earlier today,” Varadkar said at a press conference in Dublin.

Mr Varadkar’s reaction followed Britain’s decision to row back on its readiness, stated earlier in the day, to keep Northern Ireland in “regulatory alignment” with the European Union after Brexit, meaning that the territory will stay within the EU customs union and continue to enjoy benefits of a single market even after the United Kingdom leaves the bloc in 2019. There were angry reactions from both pro- and anti-EU camps as well.

Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, took to the airwaves just as reports emerged of an agreement in the works. “Northern Ireland must leave the EU on the same terms as the rest of the United Kingdom,” Foster, whose party is staunchly pro-British and supported Brexit, told reporters in televised comments in Belfast.

“We will not accept any form of regulatory divergence which separates Northern Ireland economically or politically from the rest of the United Kingdom,” she said.

Ireland’s RTE News had reported earlier that text had been agreed in recent days saying Britain would allow the maintenance of EU single market and customs union rules in UK-controlled Northern Ireland.

This would have been a major concession to demands for guarantees from Dublin that the border will remain free-flowing after Brexit.

Local residents and businesses straddling the frontier, as well as various British and Irish politicians, have raised concerns about the implications of returning to any kind of “hard border” on the island.

The report of a deal also riled parts of Britain that favour retaining close economic ties to the EU.

“If one part of UK can retain regulatory alignment with EU and effectively stay in the single market... there is surely no good practical reason why others can’t,” Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Twitter.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan wrote: “Huge ramifications for London if Theresa May has conceded that it’s possible for part of the UK to remain within the single market & customs union after Brexit,” he posted.

“Londoners overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU and a similar deal here could protect tens of thousands of jobs.” Scotland and London have asked for special status rights that would allow them to retain closer links to the single market than the rest of Britain.

In Wales, which voted narrowly in favour of leaving the EU in last year’s referendum, First Minister Carwyn Jones said: “We cannot allow different parts of the UK to be more favourably treated than others.” “If one part of the UK is granted continued participation in the Single Market & Customs Union, then we fully expect to be made the same offer,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2017