No-deal Brexit unlikely, says Irish prime minister

'I think that we either will have a deal or we will have an extension'

The Irish prime minister has said he believes a no-deal Brexit is “unlikely”, even though Dublin is preparing for the possibility.

Leo Varadkar said he thinks there will either be a deal or an extension to the fraught withdrawal negotiations.

He said: “We are entering quite a sensitive period over the next week or two in the run-up to the next set of votes in the House of Commons on 12 March and the European Council summit which happens the week after.

“I don’t want to say too much about it at this stage but I think that the United Kingdom crashing out of the European Union without a deal on 29 March is unlikely.

“I think that we either will have a deal or we will have an extension but as is always the case, we have to work hard to achieve that withdrawal agreement, to get it ratified and also prepare for the worst-case scenario in case that arises.”

He was speaking after meeting Northern Irish business leaders for discussions in Belfast about Brexit and developing stronger economic links across the border.

The taoiseach later expressed concern that Brexit had weakened Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement.

“I am deeply concerned at how Brexit has already weakened the agreement and I am concerned that anything that creates new differences – divergence between Britain and Ireland – will undermine it more,” he said.

“We cannot allow that to happen.”

Mr Varadkar said the Conservatives’ deal with the DUP to support the party in the Commons had created a “new dynamic” in politics.

“I think that the fact the DUP confidence and supply deal has created a new dynamic. Whether it is true or not, some people certainly perceive that it means that the British government listens more to the DUP than to other parties.

“We see for example that Fianna Fail has decided to create a similar partnership with the SDLP, which could create a similar dynamic were they to re-enter government south of the border.”

Additional reporting by PA