The new Brexit deal that has been agreed between the European Union and the UK government is widely welcomed by the Irish side, according to reports on Thursday.

Ireland’s national radio and TV broadcaster RTE on quoted Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar who is currently in Brussels for the EU summit as saying that the deal reached earlier on Thursday protects the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland and also avoids a hard border between Ireland and Britain’s Northern Ireland, Xinhua news agency reported.

“It is a good agreement allowing the UK to leave the EU in an orderly fashion with a transition period which is very important for businesses and citizens across the EU and UK,” he told RTE after the announcement of the deal reached.

He said that compromises had to be made to protect Ireland and the EU for securing the new deal and he was comfortable with the concessions which include compromises on a timescale and the consent issue as the deal fulfilled Ireland’s objectives.

Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the largest opposition party in Ireland, said that he welcomed the new Brexit deal reached although he believed that it was “not ideal”.

Earlier on Thursday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson took to Twitter, saying “We’ve got a great new deal that takes back control”.

The two sides have been working on the legal text of a deal, but it will still need the approval of both the UK and European Parliaments.

The Northern Irish party had released a statement, and said that they could not support Johnson’s Brexit plan in its current form and after PM announcement they said that our statement “still stands”.

Earlier this week, the EU’s Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said that a divorce deal with the United Kingdom is still possible this week but the British government needs to come forward with a legal text.

The stepped-up negotiations came after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar held a meeting last week, both sides dubbed “promising”.

Earlier this month, Johnson had submitted new proposals to the EU and its leaders promised to examine them carefully.

(With inputs from IANS)