SCRAPPED AFRICA TRIP MAY BE LOST CHANCE ON BREXIT

THE Taoiseach’s first official trip to Africa – at which he was also due to attend vital Brexit meetings – was scrubbed by his office yesterday as the political crisis at home deepened. Mr Varadkar had planned to visit members of the Defence Forces based in Mali and the Ivory Coast next week as part of a moraleboosting exercise.

The announcement of the visit’s cancellation came at 12.30pm yesterday, and seems to signal that Mr Varadkar is prepared to stand and fight for Frances Fitzgerald.

The Taoiseach had been due to visit the soldiers involved in the EU training mission in Mali, where they are working to upskill the Malian armed forces as that state faces a series of insurgencies.

He was then due to go on to the Ivory Coast – a visit with unexpectedly significant implications for Brexit: Mr Varadkar had been due to hold no fewer than 12 bilateral meetings on the fringes of the European Union/ African Union summit, due to be held in Abidjan, capital of the Ivory Coast. This would have involved very valuable sidebar talks with many key EU leaders.

But if Ireland moves to a general election next week, Mr Varadkar will find himself attending a vital meeting of the EU Council in Brussels on Brexit due next month as a lame duck leader.

The decision of 27 EU leaders on whether to allow the UK to proceed to phase two talks on Brexit could prove to be the most momentous turning point for Ireland in half a century.

Mr Varadkar’s exhausting slate of planned bilateral meetings in Africa would have been ideal preparation for that event – but now will not happen.