Has the door opened?

Is it the beginning of a deal we saw yesterday?

PM Boris Johnson met Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) and when they came out, they were both smiling. After a three-hour meeting, Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar both said that they could see a “pathway to a deal”.

Only a show? Reason for optimism? Can a deal be on the way?

EU Commission and the EU Member States have all along referred to Dublin.

If Dublin is happy, we are. If not…

Leo Varadkar said at a press conference that a deal can be done by October 31 after crunch talks with Boris Johnson and he suggested a last-minute breakthrough could be on the horizon. This is certainly a different song.

Laura Kuenssberg, political editor at BBC wrote: “No one’s cracking open the champagne… don’t even pour a pint of warm Guinness,” joked one of the few people familiar with what actually happened on Thursday after talks between Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar. Nothing has made the obstacles in the way of reaching an agreement magically disappear. But something has changed today”.

Reports have emerged from Ireland that Mr. Johnson was preparing to give ground on the issue of Northern Ireland staying in a customs union with the EU.

The focus will now shift to Brussels where on Friday Stephen Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, will meet Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator.

Sources said Mr Barnier would assess whether enough progress had been made to justify the EU intensifying negotiations ahead of the EU summit next week.

Sources: BBC News, Telegraph