Rugby star Cave tells of his worries over no-deal

THERE should be a second referendum if the UK faces leaving the EU without a deal, an Ireland rugby star has said.

Darren Cave (31) has made more than 200 appearances for Ulster and earned international caps.

He told The Sports Chronicle website that Brexit had been consuming his thoughts recently and conjured a vision of Ireland’s most successful captain Rory Best, from Northern Ireland, having to drive through a hard border to play in Dublin.

“I believe in democracy, so people shouldn’t be allowed to vote all over again just because they lost,” he said.

“However, if there is no-deal or the deal ends up being nothing like the terms the people who voted to leave the EU were told it would be, then we have ourselves a red herring.

“That situation, I feel, leaves us with only one option: a second referendum.”

Cave said political wrangling over the exit is a threat to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

He claimed many of the promises made during the Brexit campaign were untrue.

“I just hope the unique balance that makes Irish rugby so successful is not disrupted by Brexit. I know my generation couldn’t stomach that.”

He criticised Northern Ireland’s warring politicians, and said that with power-sharing at Stormont suspended for more than two years, problems like homelessness and healthcare had been ignored.