Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald says Rishi Sunak believes 'core' of the Northern Ireland Protocol is working

She was speaking after meeting this morning with Mr Sunak, who has flown in to Northern Ireland to try to prime parties here for an upcoming deal between the EU and UK.

Such a deal has been demanded for years by unionists, who have insisted that ever since Brexit Northern Ireland has been partly annexed by the EU.

In recent weeks, there has been increasing chatter about a rumoured deal – how close it is, and what it may involve.

Little light has been shed today on either of these questions.

Emerging from his own meeting with Rishi Sunak, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the Prime Minister had given “scant” detail on the potential deal with the EU, something echoed by the UUP.

Speaking after her encounter with Mr Sunak, Ms McDonald said: “He accepts that the core of the protocol has worked and he has expressed the need to negotiate and to figure out how to resolve those parts that need a smoother application, or, as he put it, ‘the parts that weren’t working’.

“There’s no doubt, the protocol is a consequence of Brexit and the protocol is necessary, and the Prime Minister is in absolutely no doubt of that.

“It’s clear now that significant progress has been made and we’re very heartened by that.

“We now want to see a speedy conclusion of matters and, above all else, we want to see the institutions restored, government restored here in the North.

“The bottom line is that we have to ensure that any deal provides for ongoing access to the European single market, no hardening of the border on the island of Ireland and a protection of the Good Friday Agreement in all of its parts.

“Those are the core elements and aspects that need to be protected. But it seems to us that it’s very much game on."