Irish government set to fall ahead of Brexit summit
Minority government looks set to collapse after the party propping it up submitted a motion of no confidence in the deputy prime minister. The crisis is likely to lead to an election next month or in January and may complicate the Dec.14-15 Brexit summit
DUBLIN: Ireland’s minority government looked set to collapse on Friday after the party propping it up submitted a motion of no conidence in the deputy prime minister, weeks before a summit on Britain’s plans to leave the European Union (EU).
The crisis is likely to lead to an election next month or in January and may complicate the Dec.14-15 Brexit summit.
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar is due to play a major role in the talks, telling EU leaders whether Ireland believes suficient progress has been made on the future border between Eu-member Ireland and Britain’s province of Northern Ireland.
The border between Ireland and Northern Ireland is one of three issues Brussels wants broadly resolved before it decides whether to move the talks onto a second phase about trade, as Britain wants.
Varadkar is now likely to go into the summit as a lame duck prime minister or in the middle of an election campaign.
The head of opposition party Fianna Fail Micheal Martin said his party had submitted a motion of no-conidence in Deputy Prime Minister Frances Fitzgerald over her handling of a legal case involving a police whistleblower.
Martin told state broadcaster RTE an election “can be avoided if the government takes action” by asking Fitzgerald to resign. But the government said this would not happen.
“I think we’re heading for an election before Christmas,” junior inance minister Michael D’arcy told Reuters.
“The Tainaste (deputy prime minister) cannot resign and should not resign. The only way (to stop this) is to withdraw the motion,” D’arcy said.
As well as the border, the other issues Brussels wants resolved before talks move on to trade arrangements are Britain’s inancial settlement on leaving the bloc and the rights of EU citizens living in Britain.
EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier assured Ireland’s foreign minister on Friday that the EU would defend Dublin’s position in talks with Britain over the coming weeks.
“Strong solidarity with Ireland,” Barnier wrote on Twitter. “Irish issues are EU issues.”
Foreign Minister Simon Coveney told parliament on Thursday the government was not yet ready to allow the talks to move on to trade issues and needed more clarity from London.