Fianna Fáil’s threat to coalition’s future could weaken Ireland’s position as it goes into a critical phase of Brexit negotiations. Varadkar has upped the ante on this in the past three weeks and his current standing in Brussels is solid. Sources confirm Brexit policy has been agreed every step of the way with Fianna Fáil and they do not expect the position on Northern Ireland to change. It is impossible to have an election inside three weeks – beyond the date when the EU takes its decision on whether talks can move to the second phase. For now, it has that consensus: the Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has tweeted that the EU has “strong solidarity with #Ireland: Irish issues are EU issues”.

Source: The Guardian November 24, 2017 19:30 UTC