Dinner à deux

TO picture Leo Varadkar and his British counterpart, Theresa May, sitting down to dinner, à deux, in Farmleigh tonight is an intriguing prospect.

For here are two people, neither of whom is renowned for their ability to plamás or indulge in small talk, thrown upon each other’s company and arguing over an intractable problem in a scenario where we feel the British prime minister has reneged on the deal she signed while the British feel the Taoiseach was complicit in Donald Tusk’s sneering at the Brexiteers.

However, we can only hope that away from the glare of the media spotlight the two leaders might be able to build bridges and find a way to reach an accommodation. And that their earnest attempt to find a solution to the border impasse will serve only to remind people of the ties that bind our two nations, and of the importance of that relationship, not just in this current context, but into the future.