Tánaiste Simon Coveney is visiting London and Paris today for talks on Brexit and other issues.
He's starting the day with an early morning breakfast with the British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
He'll then travel to Paris for a meeting with French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian.
As well as Brexit, the Middle East peace process and the future of Europe are on the agenda.
Later today, Minister Coveney will also meet with the French Minister for European Affairs, Nathalie Loiseau.
Ahead of today's meeting, Minister Coveney spoke to the French news station France24.
On the subject of Brexit negotiations and the continuing effort to avoid a hard border in Ireland, he observed: "We're trying to come up with a complicated solution to preventing physical border infrastructure reemerging, potentially.
"We need an insurance mechanism that that can't happen - that's the backstop."
He said he does believe there will be a deal between the EU and UK before Christmas, explaining: "We can get this Irish border issue agreed as well. We're working towards a solution there that everybody can live with, and nobody feels threatened by.
"A deal is needed now to try and create a calm politically."
