Brexit: Simon Coveney says progress has been slow

Simon Coveney has said progress in the Brexit negotiations has been slow but a deal can be done.

The tánaiste (Irish deputy prime minister) said "significant progress" needed to be made on Tuesday for there to be any chance of a Brexit deal by the weekend.

Mr Coveney added that Michel Barnier had made it clear there would be no haggling over the details of the text at the summit and the document had to be legally "watertight" and politically acceptable.

"If there is going to be a deal at this summit the task force and the British team need to finalise that text and today is a key day in terms of being able to do that in time," Mr Coveney said.

"It's clear big steps are needed to today to build on progress that has been slow."