Irish PM wants to meet Boris Johnson, saying a Brexit deal is still possible

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar says a Brexit deal is still possible and he's trying to arrange a meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week.

Irish Prime Minister An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Source: TT News Agency

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar is seeking a meeting with Boris Johnson next week, stressing the time is right for London to go further with the fresh Brexit proposals it presented last week.

Mr Varadkar said next Friday would be a reasonable cut-off point to get a deal done ahead of the following week's summit in Brussels, but that an extra 24 or 48 hours could be made available for last-minute talks.

"I think a deal is still possible... It is possible at the European Council summit in two weeks' time but the current position as of today is the European Union, including Ireland, doesn't feel that the proposals put forward by Prime Minister Johnson yet form the basis for deeper negotiations," he said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Source: Getty

"But there is plenty of time for the UK Government to put forward further proposals and we are in the process of trying to arrange a meeting between me and Prime Minister Johnson next week."

The EU dealt a heavy blow to the PM's new Brexit proposals on Friday, and anticipated weekend talks between the two sides were called off.

The European Commission said EU member states had agreed the proposals "do not provide a basis for concluding an agreement".

A spokesman said discussions between the two sides would not take place this weekend and instead the UK would be given "another opportunity to present its proposals in detail" on Monday.

Dutch PM Mark Rutte said he had spoken to Johnson on Saturday, but that "important questions remain about the British proposals".

"There is a lot of work to be done ahead of APSEUCO on October 17/18," he tweeted.

The EU dealt a heavy blow to the PM's new Brexit proposals on Friday. Source: AAP

With less than a month until its scheduled exit, Johnson is seeking significant changes to how the most contentious issue - the border between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland - was dealt with in the divorce deal agreed by his predecessor, Theresa May, almost a year ago.

However, the European Union and Ireland said on Thursday that the proposals were unlikely to yield a deal, with Dublin bluntly warning Britain was heading towards a no-deal exit unless it made more concessions.