Ireland is stepping up preparations for physical infrastructure at ports and airports after Brexit, premier Leo Varadkar said. Irish ministers held detailed discussions in Dublin on Tuesday surrounding the hiring of customs officers and veterinary inspectors as well as the upgrading of IT systems.
Ireland and the EU are very frustrated at the UK Government’s shifting positions on Brexit, the country’s deputy premier has said. In a special Brexit meeting taking place at Derrynane House in Co Kerry, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his ministers will thrash out Brexit plans at the ancestral home of Irish political leader Daniel O’Connell.
Theresa May has been warned that time is running out to secure a Brexit deal as she prepares to face the other 27 EU leaders at a summit in Brussels. The PM will brief all her counterparts for the last time before October, when both sides hope a deal will be done on the UK's March 2019 departure.
Nicola Sturgeon is to meet senior UK government politicians for the first time since accusing them of ripping up the devolution settlement. The first minister will hold talks with Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington in Guernsey.
The president of the European Commission has indicated that funding for Ireland's cross-border projects will continue after Brexit. Jean-Claude Juncker said he could see no more important use of the European budget than maintaining the peace process in Ireland. He was speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The Irish government would expect to have a real and meaningful involvement in Northern Ireland if efforts to restore Stormont fail, the Irish prime minister has said. Leo Varadkar said he would not support a return to direct rule from London if time is called on talks to restore a power-sharing government in Belfast, and anticipated he would make a fresh bid for a deal in January.
British Prime Minister Theresa May told her Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar that she would propose suggestions to Brexit negotiators over the next 24 hours to try to break an impasse on the issue of the Irish border, Varadkar said on Wednesday.
Despite hopes of a major breakthrough on Brexit, talks between the United Kingdom and European Union (EU) have stalled, in large part over discussions about the Irish border. When British Prime Minister Theresa May arrived in Brussels on Monday to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, there were indications a major breakthrough on stage one of Brexit was imminent.
The EU will refuse Britain’s demand for talks on a post-Brexit transition and future trade pact if Ireland is not satisfied with London’s offer on border arrangements with Northern Ireland, European Council President Donald Tusk said this weekend.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave Theresa May a Brexit boost as EU leaders gathered for a summit in Brussels, saying there were “encouraging” signs that talks on the future UK/EU trade relationship could begin as early as December.