THERESA IN TROUBLE? NO, SHE HAS LOTS OF GRIT SAYS COVENEY
EMBATTLED Theresa May has received strong backing from our own Tánaiste as she struggles to get her Brexit deal through Britain’s House of Commons.
Simon Coveney said yesterday: ‘People have underestimated Theresa May over and over again. I think they’re wrong to. I think she is a very steely, determined person.
‘I think she has got a good deal for Britain, for the United Kingdom as a whole. She has followed through also on her commitments to Ireland and the EU,’ he told RTÉ. He added: ‘If you listen to what business are saying in Northern Ireland, in most parts of the United Kingdom, obviously in Ireland as well, people are saying this is a deal we should accept.’
His comments come as EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier held a meeting with the EU 27’s foreign ministers yesterday, at which they backed the draft withdrawal agreement and confirmed a special EU summit in Brussels this Sunday.
And a planned rebellion against Mrs May in the ranks of the Tory party looks to have been quelled, although the deal still faces huge opposition on all sides of the British parliament.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has backed calls to publish a report outlining over 150 areas of North-South cooperation under the Good Friday Agreement which are underpinned by EU law, and therefore threatened by Brexit. His call comes after EU Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly said it should be published in the public interest.
The documented previously has gone unpublished at the request of UK negotiators.