Brexit

Countdown to Brexit:

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar: chastised his Ministers over negative briefings. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire Brexit: What does Boris want?

Inside Politics: Government figures are unimpressed with proposal of all-island agri-food zone

Luxembourg’s prime minister Xavier Bettel gestures during a news conference after his meeting with British prime minister Boris Johnson in Luxembourg. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters Boris Johnson’s trip to Luxembourg descends into high farce
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe ditched Varadkar’s promise to cut tax rates. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire The Irish Times view on the Dáil’s return: Government feels the heat

British prime minister Boris Johnson ‘is a smirking dilettante who fancies himself an intellectual’. File photograph: Getty Boris Johnson has the charm and depth of an overcooked souffle
Boris Johnson quoted Ian Paisley as saying of Northern Ireland “that the people were British but the cattle were Irish”. DUP’s sacred cows the biggest obstacle to Brexit deal
A defaced ‘Welcome to Northern Ireland’ sign is displayed on the Irish Border in Derry. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images Ireland can transform a Brexit crisis into a breakthrough
Role reversal: British prime minister Boris Johnson and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Government Buildings, Dublin on Monday. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times Fintan O’Toole: For the first time since 1171, Ireland is more powerful than Britain
British prime minister Boris Johnson has claimed that the EU was ‘pursuing a similar goal to Hitler in trying to create a powerful superstate’, and that the plucky English Brexiteers would ‘set the country free’. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Decay of English language makes it perfect for lying
Dark clouds over the Houses of Parliament in London. File photograph: Will Oliver/EPA The Irish Times view: Brexit hostilities move to supreme court in London
British prime minister Boris Johnson during a speech at the Convention of the North in Rotherham on Friday. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/PA Wire Nuclear winter awaits Westminster after Johnson’s Brexit war
Former British prime Minister David Cameron and then mayor of london Boris Johnson during the Olympic Games in 2012. Photograph: John Stillwell - WPA Pool/Getty Irishman in Britain: Why do the English have such a soft spot for posh people?
Inspection facilities being built at Dublin Port in advance of Brexit. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times What would a no-deal Brexit mean for the biggest sectors of the Irish economy?

A return to the UK for affected families is unlikely be an option because it has ‘the harshest regime of family separation in Europe’. Photograph: iStock Brexit: Non-EU family of UK citizens in Ireland get ‘worrying’ letters
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney: “We await written proposals from the UK side. We simply haven’t seen any written proposals to date.” Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins Informal British solutions fall short of backstop, says Tánaiste
DS Rachel Shields of the PSNI and Claire Archbold of the Department of Justice at the launch of the Organised Crime Task Force annual report. Photograph: Aaron McCracken NI faces new organised crime challenges in no-deal Brexit – report
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin: “I think there was a degree of triumphalism that did get the back up in unionist quarters and elsewhere which I think has given rise to all of the difficulties.” File photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins Martin criticises Cabinet’s ‘lord it over the British’ Brexit handling
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will come under pressure from some party members to shift towards campaigning in favour of remaining in the EU. File image: Joe Giddens/PA Wire Corbyn vows to put ‘sensible’ Brexit deal to a referendum
President Michael D Higgins visited the Ploughing this afternoon to officially open the event. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Brexit and beef the only clouds as ploughing championships open
Special: Ireland's Call
Ireland beyond Brexit
Full Brexit results
Businesswoman Gina Miller leaves the UK supreme court following a hearing on the legality of proroguing parliament in London. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Court has no jurisdiction on parliament suspension, says Johnson
Tánaiste Simon Coveney said the French ‘have committed to ensuring a separate lane in Calais for Irish trucks coming off ships from Dover’. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins Supermarket shelves will not be empty if no-deal Brexit, Tánaiste says
Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson delivers her keynote speech at the party conference in Bournemouth. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images Liberal Democrats face fight for ‘heart and soul of Britain’
Tánaiste Simon Coveney speaking to media at Government Buildings: ‘Of course there are conversations, as you would expect, exploring concepts, what might work, what won’t work.’ Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins Coveney in informal talks over alternatives to Brexit backstop
HPE employs almost 700 people in Ireland, including at its offices in Kildare, pictured above, Dublin and Galway. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill/The Irish Times Hewlett Packard Enterprise to appoint new managing director for Ireland
The Central Bank study suggests that beef and sheep farms, which represent around 70 per cent of Irish farms, already face “significant viability challenges” Third of Irish farms under threat from Brexit, Apple court case, and RTE cuts
Beef and sheep farms face ‘significant viability challenges’ as they rely heavily on subsidies from Brussels, according to a Central Bank analysis. File photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images One-third of Irish farms at risk in no-deal Brexit, says study
Specialist beef production is the most common farm type or activity but also delivers the worst returns. Photograph: Alan Hopps via Getty Hard Brexit could drive a third of Irish farms out of business
Jo Swinson during the Liberal Democrats autumn conference in Bournemouth. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire Brexit: Swinson makes play for Remain vote with attack on Corbyn
A red double-decker Routemaster bus in London. Photograph: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Northern Irish maker of ‘Boris bus’ in talks as Brexit risk hits
Northern Ireland’s Lord Chief Justice Declan Morgan. Photograph: David Young/PA Wire Brexit has lit dynamite under Belfast Agreement, court hears
Northern Secretary Julian Smith has suggested a revived Stormont Assembly could have a role to play in any new Brexit deal that had specific Northern Ireland elements. File photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Stormont could play a role in a new Brexit deal, Northern Secretary suggests
Protestors hold signs as British prime minister Boris Johnson and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker have a working lunch. Photograph: Joshua Sammer/Getty Images Brexit: Johnson, EU talks fail to move amid protest chaos
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has sought to reassure unionists on the Brexit backstop. Photograph: PA Brexit: Donohoe seeks to reassure unionists over Border backstop
UK home secretary Priti Patel told the BBC the “entire machinery of government” was focused on securing a Brexit deal. Photograph: BBC Brexit: Ireland sceptical of Britain’s claim of breakthrough
Louth TD Declan Breathnach, centre, at a protest outside Government Buildings in 2017. Photograph: Cyril Byrne Louth TD rejects alternatives to Brexit backstop
Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson speaks at a question-and-answer session at the Party annual Conference in Bournemouth Ion Sunday. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images Lib Dems vote to cancel Brexit through act of parliament
Priti Patel said the Irish border issue had moved on from the backstop in terms of discussions with the EU. Photograph: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire. Brexit: UK ministers talk up Irish border compromise as key to deal
David Cameron, pictured in 2016, says Boris Johnson and Michael Gove behaved appallingly. Photograph: Hannah McKay/PA Wire David Cameron: Johnson only backed Leave for his career
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is pictured at a Scottish Trades Union Congress ‘Fighting for our Future’ march and rally in Kirkcaldy. Photograph: Lesley Martin/PA Wire. Brexit: Corbyn says opposition vying to avoid ‘no-deal crash out’
Former UK prime minister David Cameron speaks outside 10 Downing Street in central London before going to Buckingham Palace to tender his resignation to Queen Elizabeth II. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images. Cameron ‘truly sorry’ for division that followed Brexit
Dominic Grieve: ‘“I have always worried that the DUP’s position, firstly in advocating and promoting leave was a great mistake.’ Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire DUP could be ‘sold down the river’, says former UK attorney general
Anti-Brexit activists wave EU flags whilst draped in Union flags as they demonstrate outside the Houses of Parliament in London on Thursday. Photograph: Getty Images Hopes of clean break with EU are nonsense, says ex-Brexit official
Aidan Flynn, general manager at the FTA Ireland has suggested that ferry arrivals could be staggered to avoid traffic build-ups. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill / The Irish Times Hauliers want trucker toilets, parking in case of Brexit delays at port
Continuing technical discussions involving Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator, David Frost, focused on just one aspect of the Northern Ireland Border problem, food and animal movement controls. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/WPA Pool /Getty Images Boris Johnson to meet European Commission president for working lunch
One-time British prime minister David Cameron: ‘I don’t think you can rule [a second referendum] out because we’re stuck.’ File photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA Second Brexit referendum cannot be ruled out, says David Cameron
Victims’ campaigner Raymond McCord (centre), with solicitors Ciaran O’Hare (left) and Paul Farrell outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Belfast. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA W Legal challenge on Brexit strategy due to be heard in Belfast on Monday
Phil Hogan raised possibility that the UK may not ultimately exit the EU given that the upcoming election could lead to a new government with a different mandate from the British people. Photograph Nick Bradshaw/The Irish Times UK may soon have new prime minister who could decide not to exit EU - Phil Hogan
Conservative MP Nigel Evans: ‘Two-thirds of the medicines Ireland gets come through the UK. If there are shortages in the UK, there’ll be shortages in Ireland.’ Photograph: Isabel Infantes/AFP/Getty Department of Health dismisses Tory MP’s claim of medicine shortages
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar pictured at the Fine Gael pre-Dáil parliamentary party think-in at Garryvoe in east Cork on Friday. Photograph: Provision Brexit: Varadkar says gap between EU and UK on deal ‘very wide’
Northern Ireland’s DUP leader Arlene Foster and deputy Nigel Dodds leave from 10 Downing Street on September 10th, 2019, where they met with Britain’s Prime Minister. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images. Foster dismisses reports DUP could soften stance on Brexit backstop
Operation Purge will mean port-bound trucks travelling in through the tunnel are redirected at Dublin Port and sent back out the tunnel’s north bore. File photograph: Alan Betson Major plan aims to stop traffic jams in Dublin after Brexit
Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow: “What conceivable moral force do the public’s elected representatives have . . . to disregard a law enacted by parliament?” Photograph: Yui Mok/PA Wire Ignoring law around no-deal Brexit a ‘non-starter’, warns Bercow
Leanne McCooey: ‘It’s impossible to plan for something like this.’ British government analysis of Brexit aftermath ‘dystopian’
Raymond McCord outside the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Legal challenge to British Brexit strategy dismissed in Belfast
Arancha González, executive director of the International Trade Centre. Photograph: Benedikt von Loebell/World Economic Forum No-deal Brexit will cause ‘big short-term’ shock to Ireland
British prime minister Boris Johnson onboard a lighthouse tender on the river Thames. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Wire Brexit: Johnson says it is ‘absolutely' not true he misled queen
Tánaiste Simon Coveney (R): ‘difficult not to be sceptical’ about the British government’s intentions. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire Coveney: Border checks after any no-deal Brexit ‘a temporary arrangement’
Price of bread: Ireland uses mostly UK flour, which will get more expensive in a no-deal Brexit. Photograph: iStock/Getty Bread in Ireland to get more expensive after no-deal Brexit
The first-half performance at John Lewis was unusually weak. Photograph: PA John Lewis issues stark no-deal Brexit warning
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has warned that the UK ‘will not accept a Northern Ireland only backstop’. Photograph: Getty Business in NI ready to back Northern Ireland-only backstop
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe during a media briefing outlining his Budget 2020 strategy. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins Budget 2020: Brexit impact to hit social welfare increases
The report said the agri-food sector will be hardest hit, due to its cross-border supply chains. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire Brexit: Civil unrest, road blockages in North under no deal, Yellowhammer document predicts
German chancellor Angela Merkel listens after delivering a keynote speech during a debate on the federal budget at the Bundestag, in Berlin. Photograph: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images German MPs ditch Brexit for climate action amid budget debate
Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson during a visit to a London primary school. Photograph: Toby Melville/AFP/Getty Images Johnson acted ‘unlawfully’ in suspension of parliament, court rules
Nearly two-thirds of those polled think Brexit makes unification ‘in the foreseeable future’ more likely. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images Slight majority for unification in Northern Ireland – poll
Sinn Féin leader Mary-Lou McDonald (right) with deputy leader Michelle O’Neill (left) at the party’s think-in. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire Sinn Féin opposed to Stormont veto on Northern Ireland-only backstop
Britain’s Labour Party deputy leader Tom Watson. Photograph: Reuters/Toby Melville British Labour Party’s uneasy truce on Brexit breaks down
Ursula von der Leyen, the incoming president of the European Commission, said that Mr Barnier had done “an outstanding job. Photograph: Stephanie LeCocq/EPA Michel Barnier set to extend his role as EU Brexit negotiator
Pro-Brexit protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA Brexit could leave hole in Government budget, watchdog warns
Photograph: Glennon Brothers Glennon Brothers to invest €15m in its Scottish mill
Arlene Foster, DUP leader and Nigel Dodds (DUP) leave Downing Street following talks with Boris Johnson on Tuesday. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty DUP says Johnson confirmed rejection of Northern Ireland-only backstop
Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said the details of the situation facing Irish trawlers entering UK waters on November 1st had yet to be worked out. File photograph: Jeff Mauritzen/National Geographic/Getty Images Creed admits all-Ireland agri-food economy ‘in some jeopardy’
LArlene Foster, leader of the DUP and Nigel Dodds (DUP) leave Downing Street following talks with Boris Johnson. Photograph: Peter Summers/Getty Images DUP meets Johnson and says he confirmed rejection of North-only backstop
Emma DeSouza and her husband Jake at Belfast High Court on Tuesday. Ms DeSouza applied for a residence card for her US-born husband Jake using her Irish passport in December 2015 which the British Home Office rejected, saying she was British. Photograph: Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Derry woman is British until she renounces citizenship, tribunal told
‘Don’t listen to the Three Stooges’ on the Irish Border, said Phil Hogan in reference to Boris Johnson, Nigel Farage, and Jaccob Rees-Mogg. Photographs: Getty In his own words: Phil Hogan on Brexit and ‘the Three Stooges’
A BMW concept car at the Frankfurt motor show. BMW warns it could reduce UK output over hard Brexit
Jeremy Corbyn speaks during the Trades Union (TUC) Congress in Brighton on Tuesday. Photograph: Getty Images Jeremy Corbyn: An election is coming, but not on Johnson’s terms
House of Commons speaker John Bercow after he announced he will stand down as Commons Speaker at the end of next month. Photograph: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/PA Wire Brexit: Suspension of parliament descends into chaos
Boris Johnson: insistent UK will leave on October 31st and has hinted he’ll bend law to avoid requesting another Brexit delay. Photograph: AFP What next for Boris Johnson after another Commons defeat?
A video grab from footage broadcast by the UK Parliament’s Parliamentary Recording Unit shows Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson speaking following the announcement of the result of a vote on his motion for an early parliamentary general election, a motion that did not carry, in the House of Commons in London on Tuesday morning. Photograph: PRU/AFP/Getty Johnson fails once more to secure pre-Brexit election
Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow: “We would not want anyone to be whipped senseless, would we?” Photograph: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/PA Bercow times resignation to limit government influence on successor
Jeff Wyatt, a businessman from Milton Keynes and a pro-Brexit protester at the Houses of Parliament in London. Photograph: Simon Carswell ‘It is a complete nightmare’ – Brexit’s battle lines drawn at Westminster’s gates
Speaker John Bercow announce that he will stand down during an impassioned speech in the House of Commons, London on Monday. Photograph: House of Commons/PA Wire Bercow to stand down as Commons speaker at end of October
DUP MP Sammy Wilson: ‘We don’t feel we are alone on this. There will always be a residual, albeit not very many, but 30 or 40 within the Conservative Party, who would say: ‘We draw a line on that’.’ Photograph: Isabel Infantes/AFP/Getty Johnson would face Tory opposition to NI-only backstop – DUP
Arlene Foster said the DUP will continue to work with the British Government and will also use any discussions with the Taoiseach to encourage efforts towards a sensible deal. File photograph: David Young/PA Wire Arlene Foster ‘encouraged’ by Boris Johnson’s commitment to a sensible Brexit
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and British prime minister Boris Johnson at Government Buildings in Dublin on Monday. Photograph: Aidan Crawley/EPA How the British press covered Johnson’s meeting with Varadkar
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (right) and British prime minister Boris Johnson at Government Buildings on Monday. Photograph: PA Photograph: Dara Mac Donaill / The Irish Times Brexit: Johnson tells Varadkar a no-deal Brexit ‘would be a failure’
Raymond McCord: alleges that a no-deal Brexit will plunge Northern Ireland into chaos, economic misery and threaten the peace process. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire Belfast Agreement does not block Brexit, court hears
Protester Seamus McDonnell dressed as a Customs official during a rally organised by Border Communities against Brexit on Monday. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins Boris Johnson visit: Small protest takes place outside Leinster House
British prime minister Boris Johnson speaking during his first Prime Minister’s Questions session in the House of Commons. Photograph: PRU/AFP/Getty Images Explainer: What happens next for Boris Johnson and Westminster
David Coghlan of Coghlan’s Bakery in Naas, Co Kildare: they have plans for “buffer stock” of four weeks to tide them over the October 31st Brexit date. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw British mills look to EU to keep Irish bakers in flour post-Brexit
The Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, inspects the newly installed infrastructure checkpoints at Dublin Port in anticipation of no-deal Brexit. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images Northern Ireland-only backstop on the menu for Varadkar-Johnson meeting
Amber Rudd, who has resigned as work and pensions secretary in protest at the government’s approach to Brexit, appearing on the BBC current affairs programme The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday. Photograph: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire Brexit: Boris Johnson will test no-deal prevention Bill ‘to the limit’
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe is taking ‘seriously’ Patrick Honohan’s warning about overreliance on corporation tax. Donohoe listening to Honohan’s warning on corporation tax
Gerry Harrahill, Revenue Commissioner and Director of Customs showing Taoiseach Leo Varadkar newly built inspection facilities at Dublin Port in advance of Brexit. Photograph: Alan Betson Varadkar to discuss possibility of Northern Ireland-only backstop with Johnson
Former Labour minister and EU commissioner Peter Mandelson said he would support Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister after a general election. File photograph: Getty Peter Mandelson warns Taoiseach, ‘don’t be conned’ by Johnson
Amber Rudd leaving in Whitehall in London on September 2. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Amber Rudd says she was sent ‘one-page summary’ of attempts to find Brexit deal
Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow reminds Boris Johnson of the rules relating to the naming of people during his first prime minister’s questions session. Video grab: Parliamentary Recording Unit/AFP/Getty Images Conservatives to stand election candidate against Commons speaker
Amber Rudd leaves the British Houses of Parliament this week. File photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Brexit: Amber Rudd quits Johnson’s cabinet and Tory party in protest
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson: Told the summer school regarding the Belfast Agreement that ‘we can’t enhance the relationship and the principle of consent’. File photograph: The Irish Times DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson says UK not to exit EU without deal
The man took Boris Johnson to task for being in Leeds rather than negotiating in Brussels ‘You’re playing games!’ Johnson gets taste of public anger from man with Irish accent
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney. File potograph: Alan Betson Coveney says Johnson's Brexit is 'less compatible' with open Border
Even with a no-deal Brexit ‘there will be net growth in employment’, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins Varadkar rules out food, medicine shortages under no-deal Brexit
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney. File potograph: Alan Betson Backstop compatible with Belfast Agreement, says Coveney
The UK’s Brexit adviser David Frost, right, and British ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow leave EU headquarters after a meeting in Brussels. Photograph: Francisco Seco/AP Brexit: UK plan for Irish alignment on food, animals unlikely to pass
Britain’s prime minister Boris Johnson with a bull during a visit to Darnford Farm near Aberdeen, Scotland. Photograph: Andrew MilliganAFP/Getty Corbyn agrees united response to block Johnson election bid
Troubles victims campaigner Raymond McCord outside the Royal Courts of Justice in Belfast, as he continues to pursue a legal bid to block the suspension of Parliament. Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire No-deal Brexit would cause chaos in NI, legal challenge hears
UK prime minister Boris Johnson making a speech during a visit to West Yorkshire. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA Wire. Boris Johnson criticised for using police as backdrop to speech
Gina Miller speaks outside the High Court in London. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Brexit: Leading judges reject challenge to suspension of parliament
UK prime minister Boris Johnson making a speech in West Yorkshire. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA Wire Brexit crisis: Boris Johnson dangles prospect of Irish regulatory alignment
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told the British-Irish Chamber dinner some checks on goods and live animals entering the Republic would take place ‘near the Border’ in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Photograph: Dave Meehan Taoiseach says no-deal Brexit may require checks ‘near the Border’
More than £200m could be lost from the food and drink sector in Northern Ireland over the next 15 years in a hard Brexit scenario, according to new research commissioned by the North’s Department for the Economy. Photograph: Getty Images Hard Brexit to wipe £200 million from North’s food and drink sector: report
The report examines hard and soft Brexit scenarios and also different approaches to various backstop arrangements. File photograph: Bloomberg Brexit ‘will damage North’s economy’ with or without backstop