Updated 11:30am
The UK Prime Minister will travel to Brussels on Thursday for further talks aimed at breaking the Brexit impasse.
Theresa May will meet with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, according to his spokesperson.
The meeting comes with less than 50 days until the official Brexit date of March 29th.
Mrs May is in Northern Ireland this lunchtime where she will deliver a speech acknowledging that Brexit has led to a "concerning time."
File photo of the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker at EC headquarters in Brussels, 29-01-2019. Image: AP Photo/Francisco Seco
Backstop
The speech is billed by her staff as a bid to calm fears over the potential return of a hard border.
She will also attempt to salvage her Brexit deal by insisting that "alternatives" to the backstop proposal can be found and agreed.
Any alternatives have already been flatly rejected by Irish and EU leaders, who have said the deal agreed by Mrs May and the 27 EU members cannot be reopened.
Mrs May will meet business leaders and politicians and pledge to deliver a deal that honours previous commitments.
But she is facing demands from political leaders to dump the backstop from her withdrawal agreement, as well as the threat of legal action against it.
Meanwhile Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said alternatives to the backstop are "wishful thinking."
"Concerning time"
In her speech at the start of her two-day visit, Mrs May will say: "I know this is a concerning time for many people here in Northern Ireland.
"But we will find a way to deliver Brexit that honours our commitments to Northern Ireland that commands broad support across the community in Northern Ireland and that secures a majority in the Westminster parliament, which is the best way to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland.
"As we do so, I hope we can also take steps to move towards the restoration of devolution - so that politicians in Northern Ireland can get back to work on the issues that matter to the people they represent.
"For ultimately, the measure of this moment in Northern Ireland's history must be more than whether we avoid a return to the challenges of the past.
"It must be how, together, we move forwards to shape the opportunities of the future."
Hard border
Ahead of the visit, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster, who will meet Mrs May on day two of her visit, said a deal is possible but requires political will.
Mrs Foster said she had been encouraged by comments from the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and Mr Coveney that a hard border could be avoided.
"It is important that the scaremongering about barbed wire and checkpoints is exposed as nonsense," she said. "Border communities should not have genuine fears exploited with such tall tales."
Additional reporting Michael Staines
