Hopes grow for Northern Ireland deal as UK politicians ordered to parliament

FILE PHOTO: A road sign at a roundabout on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland with directions to Belfast and Dublin is seen in Carrickcarnan, Ireland, May 19, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo

LONDON/BELFAST (Reuters) -Lawmakers in British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party have been told to be in parliament on Monday in a sign that a new post-Brexit deal to resolve the trading arrangements in Northern Ireland could be getting closer.

After weeks of intense London-Brussels talks, momentum has been building towards an agreement to revise the Northern Ireland Protocol - the arrangements agreed to avoid a hard border with EU member Ireland when Britain exited the EU in 2020.