Coveney told journalists that the Withdrawal Agreement, which the EU agreed with outgoing prime minister Theresa May but was rejected by Britain's parliament, "is not going to change", the Irish public broadcaster RTE reported.

But Coveney added that "there are other things that can change, namely the ambition in the future relationship declaration between the EU and UK".

"I hope the new British prime minister will look at it in an innovative way to try to get past this impasse and to move the Brexit process forward," Coveney was quoted as saying.