Leo Varadkar: Ireland must put its own interests ahead of Britain

Ireland must put its own interests first and ahead of those of Britain in the negotiation process on the UK’s exit from the European Union, according to the Minister for Social Protection.

Leo Varadkar said that "on some occasions, maybe most occasions, our interests will be aligned with those of the United Kingdom.

“But where they are not, it is not our duty to fight England’s battles for her,” he said during the Dáil debate on the UK referendum result.

“We must put the interests of Ireland first in the coming years and the negotiation process.”

“We need to speak for our citizens in Northern Ireland and Britain. There are millions of them and we are the only ones who will speak up for them.”

They should also work with the Northern Ireland Executive on areas of common interest, he said.

Mr Varadkar also said that he was deeply saddened for young British people who voted to remain because those born after 1973 were born EU citizens.

They had the right to travel freely and study anywhere in the European Union, “from the Algarve to Lapland, from Athens to Galway. And that right has now been taken away from them.”

Earlier Taoiseach Enda Kenny said “the stakes have always been higher for Ireland than for any other member state”.

Negotiations on withdrawal “are unlikely to take place for some time yet”, Mr Kenny said.

And it would be a challenging situation because “we do not know the precise arrangements or timescale for UK withdrawal”.

They did not know what the UK’s new relationship would be with the EU and they did not know who the new British prime minister would be or their attitude.

Mr Kenny said the Government’s contingency management arrangements would prioritise the key political areas of the Northern Ireland peace process, the Common Travel Area and the Border.

Negotiations

The Taoiseach said two sets of negotiations were likely to take place in parallel in the EU.

One set of withdrawal negotiations would deal with the phasing-out of the UK’s budget payments, the completion of programmes in which the UK is involved and the status of UK officials in the EU.

Mr Kenny said those negotiations would not address future relationship of the UK with the EU as a third country outside it.

He said that separate negotiations “will therefore take place” which will address UK trade with the European Union.

Mr Kenny stressed that a “stable, prosperous and outward-looking UK” was clearly in our interests.

“The closer the UK is to us the better for all of us,” he said.

“It is up to the UK to work out what it wants to achieve.”

Mr Kenny stressed that “the UK has not for now left the EU” and until it did so, by triggering article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, Britain remained in the EU under its existing rights.