'Significant gaps remain' after Boris Johnson's meeting with Leo Varadkar

NO BREAKTHROUGHS WERE made in a brief Dublin meeting between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Speaking alongside Varadkar at a joint press appearance ahead of their meeting, Johnson said that there’s “an ideal” amount of time left to find a solution to the Brexit impasse. “We haven’t received such proposals,” Varadkar said of possible backstop alternatives, maintaining a line repeated by the EU and Ireland since Johnson became Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Johnson said that the UK government had “an abundance” of such proposals, and admitted that his recent suggestion of an all-island agrifood zone was not a catch-all solution.

“I want to get a deal. Like you, I’ve looked carefully at no deal and assessed its consequences, both for our country and yours, and yes we could do it. When asked about direct rule in Northern Ireland if Stormont hasn’t resumed and there’s a no-deal Brexit, Varadkar crucially said that the Irish government would oppose it, as it would “contravene the St Andrew’s Agreement”.

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