Irish See ‘Good Chance’ of Brexit Trade Deal Before Year End

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said he saw a “good chance” of a trade deal between the European Union and the U.K., striking his most upbeat note over the prospects for an accord since a controversy erupted over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to to re-write the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

“The obstacles are not insurmountable” to an agreement before the end of the year, Coveney said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday. “Not agreeing a trade deal would be an enormous failure. The stakes are very high here.”