Ireland says 'lot of work' needed to move to next phase of Brexit talks

Ireland's Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney attends an informal meeting of European Union Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Tallinn, Estonia September 7, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's foreign minister on Friday welcomed Theresa May's speech in Florence calling for a Brexit transition deal, but said a lot of work was still required before the EU could move on to the next phase of talks with Britain. The EU has said that talks on the future relationship can only start after the other 27 EU governments are satisfied that "sufficient progress" has been made on the terms of Britain’s departure, including on Britain's border with Ireland. "It is clear that there are still many outstanding issues and a lot of work is still required before European leaders can make a decision that parallel discussions on the EU’s future relationship with the UK can begin," Simon Coveney said in a statement. "The key thing now is that today’s comments by Prime Minister May are translated into deliverables across the negotiating table in Brussels." (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Hugh Lawson)