During his first visit to Northern Ireland since becoming Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar delivered a keynote speech in Queens University, Belfast last month and said that every aspect of life in Northern Ireland could be affected by Brexit. Brexit he said is the “challenge of this generation”

Repeating his previous comments of not wanting an economic border between North and South, the Taoiseach reportedly said that Brexiteers who wanted a hard border had to come up with proposals for such a border and have already had 14 months to do so. He suggested that a possible solution could be the establishment of a customs union between the EU and the UK, noting that Turkey has such an arrangement with the EU. If the UK doesn’t want to stay in the Single Market, Mr Varadkar suggested that it could enter into a free trade agreement with the UK.

The Taoiseach said that the Irish government will support the Good Friday Agreement in the Brexit talks and do everything it can to protect the people, peace and prosperity on the island of Ireland.