BRITAIN and Brussels are “very close to resolving” their outstanding issues and sealing a Brexit deal.

The remarks came from David Lidington, Theresa May’s de facto deputy, after holding talks in Dublin with his Irish counterpart, Simon Coveney, who also expressed cautious optimism about getting agreement by the end of November.

But the deputy Irish premier was more equivocal than his British guest; on the one hand admitting "a lot of progress" had been made by negotiating teams in recent weeks but, on the other, saying “movement” was still needed on the UK side to find a legal wording that could allow the signing of a draft withdrawal treaty.

Speaking at a meeting of the British-Irish Governmental Conference, Mr Coveney said: “A deal can be done but it's important the commitments that have been made are followed through on in full.

"If that happens, it's possible to ensure that we get a withdrawal agreement that can be sold on both sides of the Irish Sea."

Mr Lidington said he believed the two sides were "very close to resolving" the outstanding issues and he reiterated the UK Government's commitment "to getting over those final difficulties" in the Brexit negotiations as soon as possible.

"I cannot emphasise strongly enough that the Prime Minister feels absolutely committed to her pledge not to have under any circumstances a hard border on the island of Ireland," he declared.

In the last few days, a pattern of mixed messages has been established with positive noises about the imminence of a deal coming out of London while more negative ones have emanated from Brussels.

Next Friday, Theresa May is set to have lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron in Belgium as they attend events commemorating the WW1 Battle of the Somme.

In Northern Ireland, Arlene Foster also sounded an equivocal message, suggesting Britain and Brussels were “close” to a Brexit deal that would work for Northern Ireland but also warning that regulatory checks on the border between the UK region and Britain were not acceptable.

During his first visit as Brexit Secretary to Northern Ireland, Dominic Raab stressed the Government would not sign up to anything "that would threaten the economic, the constitutional, let alone the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom".

But when asked twice if London had ruled out any new regulatory checks at the Irish border, he replied: "We are engaged in a negotiation process.”

The Brexit Secretary also met leaders of Sinn Fein, one of whose MPs Chris Hazzard accused him of behaving like a “thief in the night” by not fully listening to people’s concerns.

After talks at Stormont, the party’s president Mary Lou McDonald dismissed his trip as a “box-ticking exercise” and accused the UK Government of showing “bad faith” over the border issue, warning that it must not become a “footnote” in the wider Brexit talks.

Later, the Brexit Department issued a statement setting how Mr Raab’s full itinerary, which included a tour of the border, roundtable talks with local businesses, meetings with political parties and the local police force as well as visits to Warrenpoint Harbour and Larne Port.

The Brexit Secretary added: “The deal we strike with the EU must avoid a hard border and work for all parts of the community in Northern Ireland.”