Fine Gael TDs and senators have been told that an extension to the increasingly fraught Brexit negotiations is “alive” but that there is still some way to go in the talks. Addressing the weekly Fine Gael meeting in Leinster House, Mr Varadkar said the government were “not rubbishing” Mr Johnson’s proposals or considering them “out of hand”. But in the event of a general election, Mr Johnson would “likely win anyhow”, Mr Varadkar told the meeting, according to party sources. This could mean that any future negotiations on Brexit would still involve the same prime minister, the party was told. Elsewhere, party TD Fergus O’Dowd failed to get a motion passed with the Fine Gael party to charge property owners levies for empty units.

Source: Irish Examiner October 02, 2019 21:11 UTC