Crunch talks continue on the frantic final day of Brexit negotiations.
Brexit continues to do its thing as high stakes discussions play out against a rapidly ticking clock.
As of Wednesday morning, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was
confident of getting a deal across the line, one that will see him reportedly make "major concessions" with regards to the ongoing issue of the border in Ireland.
The border has proved to be the most contentious sticking point throughout the entire Brexit process since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in 2016.
As has frequently been outlined to former UK Prime Minister Theresa May and her successor Boris Johnson, any form that Brexit takes - if it does occur - must not lead to a return of customs posts due to the risk of violence that their presence can potentially pose.
The last major obstacle on reaching a deal as of Wednesday concerns the Democratic Unionist Party and their satisfaction regarding a "sensible deal which unionists and nationalists can support," as outlined by DUP head Arlene Foster.
As such, Johnson has been in talks with the DUP in addition to his own Conservative Brexiters as he moves to appease all opposition with a tight timeframe in play.
At lunchtime on Wednesday, it seemed that the deadlock was about to be broken as RTÉ News reporter Tony Connelly noted that the DUP were willing to accept the latest proposals on consent in relation to Brexit.
"That last obstacle has been removed, and the DUP is now accepting this consent element of this revised Withdrawal Agreement," Connelly said, quoting two senior EU sources on RTÉ News at One.
"While we're not entirely over the line yet, that is regarded as the last big stumbling block, so optimism, once again, raised considerably and we are now waiting to see if that optimism is justified and if a deal will be reached shortly."
Not long after, Arlene Foster took to Twitter to shoot down this report, labelling it as "nonsense" and noting that talks will continue.
"'EU sources' are talking nonsense," Foster
noted.
"Discussions continue. Needs to be a sensible deal which unionists and nationalists can support."
