The Foreign Affairs Minister believes a deal on the Brexit protocol could be reached by the end of the year.
Talks between the EU and the UK resumed in October for the first time in seven months.
DUP opposition to the protocol has led to political stalemate in the North, with no power-sharing executive in place.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney believes both sides can come to an agreement on the issue:
"So that we can ensure that what was agreed in the withdrawal agreement, which includes the protocol can be implemented in a way that the Unionists can accept that businesses in Northern Ireland recognize is a is a sensible and practical compromise that has taken account of their concerns and anxieties, and they are real, by the way, and I think we can do that. I think we can do that before the end of the year."
