Irish PM-Trust Built Up Between EU & UK Gov't That Wasn't There In Past

Ireland's Taoiseach (PM) Leo Varadkar has been speaking at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos regarding the ongoing talks between the UK and EU on the Northern Ireland protocol.

• Varadkar, asked on if reaching an agreement w/UK gov't will be easier under PM Rishi Sunak than predecessors Boris Johnson or Liz Truss: "So what we want to know from PM Sunak, and I believe this will be the case, is can we get an agreement that will stick? A landing zone isn't good enough, it needs to be a stable landing zone. We need to be confident that it will get through the Commons, which I'm sure it will because he has a clear majority there, but also that that agreement will last.
• Varadkar: "Trust has built up between the EU and UK government in a way that wasn't there perhaps in the past and that makes me somewhat optimistic that we can come to agreement on the protocol in the coming months which crucially will unlock the situation in Northern Ireland and will allow the assembly there to meet, the executive to be formed the Good Friday Agreement to work the way it was intended."
• The Irish leader's comments come days after a brief but positively-worded joint statement was released by the UK and EU.