British prime minister Boris Johnson is set to table fresh plans to secure a Brexit deal with fears mounting that an agreement will be impossible by this week's EU summit. At their three hour meeting in Cheshire, England, last Thursday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and British prime minister Boris Johnson said in a rare joint statement they see a "pathway" to a deal. This pathway is centred on allowing Northern Ireland to leave the EU with the rest of the UK on condition Northern Ireland also continues to implement the EU's custom rules. This meeting, and a crucial meeting of EU member states' ambassadors on Wednesday, will effectively decide if a proposed Brexit deal should be tabled or not at the EU summit of leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday. Both of these options are seen as a last resort to avoid a no deal crash out Brexit in just over a fortnight's time.

Source: Irish Examiner October 15, 2019 08:03 UTC