The Irish border question is continuing to dog Brexit negotiators, who meet again today in a desperate bid to break the deadlock in time.
The UK is under pressure to come up with a plan by 18 April, when chief Brexit official Olly Robbins and the EUs deputy negotiator Sabine Weyand are scheduled to assess the options.
Unless a solution is found that appeases both sides, the EU will insist on the backstop option raised by Michel Barnier, which would effectively keep Northern Ireland in the customs union and Single Market – something which Theresa May said would never be acceptable.
But technological solutions, as mooted by May and other Conservatives, are not seen as viable because it is “non-tariff barriers” – such as food hygiene checks – rather than customs checks, which are the main stumbling block.
The proposals put forward last week have reportedly been dismissed as being too similar to those proposed last summer, with the EU unwilling to accept voluntary regulatory alignment.
Warnings about the impact any change to the border could have on the Good Friday Agreement – which marks its 20th anniversary tomorrow – were raised again this weekend.
George Mitchell, America's former special envoy to Northern Ireland, urged May and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to "recognise what's at stake".
Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, he said: "It's the futures of their economies, it's the possibility of resumption of conflict or of a reversion back to a time when nobody wants to go back to except for a very tiny fringe element on both sides.
"I think that means that they have to come up with reasonable and acceptable compromises."
A spokeswoman for the Department for Exiting the EU said the government was engaged in an "intensive programme of talks" and was committed to resolving the issue.
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