Varadkar and Johnson meet at UN

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Prime Minister Boris Johnson at their meeting Tuesday morning. Photo via Twitter.

 

By Ray O’Hanlon

Leo Varadkar and Boris Johnson have met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly opening session in New York.

The meeting was expected.

It came as news from the UK washed across the Atlantic. And it was not good news for Johnson.

The UK Supreme court ruled that his proroguing of parliament had been illegal and this, in turn, raised the question as to whether or not he had misinformed the queen with regard to the suspension.

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Parliament is returning after the court decision.

After the UN meeting, Taoiseach Varadkar, according to reports, said there was still a "very wide gap" between the UK and EU in terms of achieving a Brexit deal by the October 31 deadline.

Mr. Varadkar, according to an Irish Independent report, said they talked in detail about the Withdrawal Agreement and the border backstop, which Mr. Johnson wants to scrap.

Mr. Varadkar described the forty minute meeting as being "good," and more detailed than their recent meeting in Dublin.

"This meeting was a meeting between our team and his and was a little bit more detailed," he said.

Mr. Varadkar avoided any comment on Mr. Johnson’s domestic political difficulties.

He said that any decision made by the Supreme Court in the UK “is not something we are going to get involved in.”

Johnson, according to a Journal.ie report, said he was “cautiously optimistic” that a Brexit deal can be reached, but added that there is a “short time” to achieve it.

The deadline is October 31.

The two leaders agreed to meet again in the near future.

 

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