Martin: Boris not realistic over British withdrawal
Micheal Martin MICHEAL Martin says former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was not realistic over Brexit.
Mr Johnson resigned on Monday after claiming Prime Minister Theresa May was leading the UK to a semi-brexit, a move the Fianna Fail leader said was revealing in itself.
He added: “The stance of hardline Brexiteers is revealing.
“Boris Johnson’s resignation letter to
Theresa May in itself reveals actually the degree the type of Brexit he wanted was never going to happen and he was never really dealing with reality.
“He said it here in Dublin last year, that he didn’t want a Norway-type agreement
Boris Johnson because he felt that Britain would be rule takers – and that’s the fundamental difficulty.
“Brexiteers are failing to grasp that when you enter an agreement with 27 other countries you agree to share a sovereignty.
“I wouldn’t personalise it, but what struck me when I met him he kept telling us it’ll be alright.
“When I referenced the Revenue report and how catastrophic a hard Brexit would be, he simply said we must make sure that never happens, but gave no details. He was not across the full detail of Brexit.
“He had a wildly optimistic view that was never grounded in reality.
“When he says the Brexit dream is dying, he’s talking about the perspective he had on Brexit, but in my view that was never a live possibility.”
Mr Martin added he was confident Mrs May had cleared a path for talks and was optimistic the border issue could be resolved.