Britain’s Sunak tells Northern Ireland parties’ no EU protocol deal yet

Britain’s Prime Minister told Northern Ireland politicians on Friday that a deal to improve the province’s post-Brexit trading arrangements was not done yet, as a flurry of diplomacy fuelled expectations that one could be finalised within days.
After weeks of intense talks between officials from Brussels and London, momentum has been building towards a deal to revise the Northern Ireland protocol, the trade rules agreed to avoid a hard border with EU member Ireland when Britain left the bloc.
One EU diplomat said it appeared a deal was close but not complete and that a meeting in Brussels on Friday between British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and EU Brexit chief Maros Sefcovic would prepare for a possible rapid conclusion.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met Northern Ireland politicians at a hotel on the outskirts of Belfast on Friday.