There can be no Brexit withdrawal agreement without a "backstop" option for the Irish border, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator has said.
Belfast, Apr.30.– Michel Barnier said the Republic of Ireland has the full support of all EU 
member states and all EU institutions.
The backstop would involve NI, or the UK as a whole, aligning with the EU rules required to support North-South cooperation and an all-island economy.
Mr Barnier was speaking at the start of a two-day visit to Ireland.
The UK has accepted the need for a backstop to be written into the Brexit withdrawal agreement. But it has not agreed what EU rules it should cover.
At the beginning of the all-island Brexit forum in Dundalk, County Louth, Mr Barnier said he knows that the so-called backstop has been the subject of "heated discussions in the UK" ...
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