The former taoiseach Leo Varadkar has conceded that the Northern Ireland protocol is a little too strict, raising hopes of further EU compromises between London and Brussels.
Varadkar, who is now deputy prime minister, believes there is room for more flexibility in the controversial Brexit arrangements that have cast a shadow on Anglo-Irish relations for the past 18 months.
I would concede that the protocol as it was originally designed was a little too strict.
The protocol is not fully implemented and yet it is still working. He told reporters in Dublin that there was room for more flexibility, for changes that hopefully will make it acceptable to all sides.
He said that there is a window of opportunity over the next couple of weeks to see if we can come to an agreement on the protocol.
Other senior Irish sources concede privately that the last two years had shown the true risk of fraudulent or sub-standard goods being smuggled across the border into the single market.
The protocol, which was agreed in October 2019 after a meeting between Boris Johnson and Varadkar in Wirral, Merseyside, was designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
It planned to have checks, many of which have never been implemented at ports and airports, to make sure that Northern Ireland didn't become a gateway for rogue trade into the EU.
One government source admitted that the last two years without much of the protocol have shown the pre-existing anti-smuggling regimes work and not many dodgy goods have crossed the border. Varadkar believes there is an opportunity for a deal that would satisfy the unionists who have been vehemently opposed to the protocol.
That would be beneficial for Ireland, for Northern Ireland, because it will allow us to get the executive of Northern Ireland up and running, and it could be helpful for Britain in economic terms, he said.
After Liz Truss became prime minister, the Irish and British foreign ministers, Simon Coveney and James Cleverly, will hold talks tonight in the first bilateral meeting between the UK and Ireland.
Officials from both sides were expected to meet virtually on Thursday afternoon, with a roadmap for talks expected to be agreed in the coming days.
Indications from both sides suggest that officials will go into what is known as a tunnel keeping talks confidential with no public commentary.
The point is not to discuss them in public, not to have none, according to Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker earlier this week. Varadkar said that while the process is under way, we would limit or refrain from any public comment on it.