Varadkar touch with

TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar and British Prime Minister Theresa May have had no contact in six weeks despite impasses in Brexit and the re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

In a further sign of deteriorating Anglo-Irish relations, Mr Varadkar admitted neither side have sought to touch base since March.

“There has not been a formal phone call or meeting between the two of us in about six weeks, nor has there been a request for one on either direction,” he said.

A meeting is under consideration next week on the fringes of an EU conference both leaders will attend in Bulgaria.

In the Dáil, Mr Varadkar sought to play down the significance of the gap in contact.

“Prime Minister May and I have each others’ mobile phone numbers and it is possible for us to contact each other whenever we need to but currently the focus is on negotiations in Brussels and the various cabinet meetings taking place in the UK to determine their position on the customs union or the customs union partnership and how that might evolve,” he said.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said he believed a “combination of chaos and disinterest in London” was to blame.

“I do not think that the Taoiseach will find a period in the last 25 years when a Taoiseach and a prime minister went for so long without talking, especially during such a crisis as that of the suspension of Northern institutions or of Brexit,” he said.