Janice ATKINSON MEP reflecting on issue of EU-Irish border after Brexit. Reportedly progress is being made in talks between Britain and the EU on how to avoid setting up a physical infrastructure on Northern Ireland’s border after the United Kingdom leaves the EU in 2019, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday. The EU has named the Irish border as one of three issues on which “sufficient progress” must be made in order to allow progress to talks on a future trade agreement with Britain, crucial for British businesses.