Downing Street has denied reports that Theresa May is considering rewriting the historic Good Friday Agreement in a fresh bid to save her Brexit deal.
An article in a London newspaper said the Prime Minister is considering amending the 1998 deal as part of efforts to sideline the controversial Northern Ireland backstop, which May's critics say would lock the UK into the EU's customs union if no plan to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland can be found or the future relationship does not allow for one.
The Prime Minister was swiftly accused of "playing a dangerous game" by politicians in Northern Ireland and Remain campaigners.
The report came as May told Cabinet ministers she would push EU leaders for fresh changes to the backstop in what one Cabinet source called a "one more heave" strategy as cross-party talks aimed at breaking the Brexit deadlock stalled.
According to the Telegraph, ministers believe that inserting text into the agreement - which is widely credited with helping to ensure peace in Northern Ireland over the past two decades - could help reassure Ireland that the backstop is not needed.
The paper reports that the two sides could add text to "support or reference" the 1998 agreement to guarantee an open border Brexit, with a source saying the move could "reinforce trust with the Irish to give them something more tangible so we can stick to our commitments".
Such a plan would require the consent of all parties involved in Northern Ireland.
Speaking on Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio One today, Irish Minister of State for European Affairs Helen McEntee said the agreement was “not negotiable”.
“Everything that we’re hearing in the last day or two is speculation, and until the Prime Minister actually brings something forward today and we actually hear what it is she has to say, all of this is speculation,” she said.
“But suggestions that we would amend, change, delete, or remove parts of the Good Friday Agreement are not something that we would be considering even looking at.”
Former shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Owen Smith, a supporter of the Best for Britain campaign, warned: "The Prime Minister is playing a dangerous game.
"It’s clear she values keeping herself in a job over the bedrock of peace in Northern Ireland. That’s shameless and doesn’t respect the office she represents.
"If the Prime Minister is planning on recklessly toying with the Good Friday Agreement, it’s all the more reason to take Brexit out of her hands and put it back to the public."
But Number 10 sources this morning moved quickly to insist May has no intention of seeking to re-open the Good Friday Agreement.
The agreement was made between the British and Irish governments and eight political parties or groupings from Northern Ireland: the Ulster Unionist Party, the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party, the Progressive Unionist Party, the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition, the Ulster Democratic Party and Labour. The Democratic Unionist Party which props up May's minority government, opposed it.
The agreement helped to bring the 30 year conflict in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles, to an end.
The Telegraph report comes as police in Northern Ireland warn a group of young people walked past a car bomb just minutes before it exploded in Derry around 8pm on Saturday.
The PSNI said the attack may have been carried out by the New IRA, a dissident republican group, and have arrested four men - two aged in their 20s, one aged 32 and another aged 42.
Police said a pizza delivery man had a gun held to his head as his vehicle was hijacked and then used in the bombing.
One CCTV clip posted on Twitter by police showed a group of young people walking past the vehicle shortly before the city centre blast.
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