Micheal Martin’s Brexit fury with Leo Varadkar: ‘It’s all your fault!’ - Express

Fianna Fail leader Mr Martin took over from Fine Gael leader Mr Varadkar as the Taoiseach after the 2020 election results in a coalition between their parties. A rotating Taoiseach system was installed instead, meaning Mr Martin will be in office until 2022 while Mr Varadkar is his Tanaiste. Before the two became tied together in a coalition Mr Martin made it obvious what he thought of Mr Varadkar’s handling of Brexit.

Speaking to The Irish Times in April 2018, the party leader explained that his opposition had not revealed how devastated Ireland was going to be as a result of the UK leaving the EU.

He said: “The reality of Brexit has been sheltered from a lot of people.

“There is a prevalent view in the UK — ‘Ah they’ll work it out’. I think we should let people know. We should engage more with Britain.”

At the time of his interview, former Prime Minister Theresa May had proposed the dreaded Northern Irish backstop, which was backed by Mr Varadkar.

Mr Varadkar refused to budge on this point in the Withdrawal deal for months, and claimed Boris Johnson’s alternative solutions such as technology on the Irish border “doesn’t yet exist”.

While Mr Martin said there should be more UK engagement, Mr Varadkar was often dubbed the poster boy of the EU, as he frequently sided with Brussels.

The Irish Times summarised Mr Martin’s words: “He thinks he might have made more of a difference if he was in Leo Varadkar’s shoes.

He added: “I’d like to think I would have kept better channels open with Britain.”

READ MORE: Micheal Martin’s fury with UK for ‘showing bad faith’ in Brexit demand

“There was a celebration between Christmas that we had arrived at the Holy Grail.

“And that the North was going to be sorted. And all of that.”

He criticised Mr Varadkar’s decision to say he would accept an October deadline in 2018 for a resolution on the border issue.

He added: “So if the original strategy was that Northern Ireland had to be sorted first, so the island of Ireland has to be sorted first before we get into the next phase, the transition and the overall trade agreement, what has changed?”

His claims echo some recent worries from Irish tradesmen.

Although Mr Varadkar and Mr Johnson settled on the Northern Ireland Protocol to resolve the border issue last year, much of the infrastructure and finer details of the new system is yet to be established before the UK officially ends its transition period in December.

Mr Martin continued: “I think they should have held back on the transition agreement.

“They should have gone harder in the negotiations.

“I think they should have held back and gone harder in negotiations… at least until we were farther down the road than we are.

“We’re not down the road at all now. It could be a major strategic error.”

Mr Martin wanted to set up a special economic zone with different rules for the North which would allow it to operate as both UK and EU.

Indeed, this is what Mr Johnson’s Northern Ireland Protocol tried to establish — Northern Ireland still leaves the EU, but remains part of the single market and customs union to prevent a border arising on the island of Ireland.

However, it was a last-minute deal struck in the Autumn of last year.

Disagreements about other post-Brexit trade deals, such as access to UK fishing waters, have overshadowed concerns regarding the Irish border.

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmV4cHJlc3MuY28udWsvbmV3cy91ay8xMzEyNDA1L2JyZXhpdC1uZXdzLW1pY2hlYWwtbWFydGluLWlyZWxhbmQtYmFja3N0b3AtbGVvLXZhcmFka2FyLXNwdNIBamh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmV4cHJlc3MuY28udWsvbmV3cy91ay8xMzEyNDA1L2JyZXhpdC1uZXdzLW1pY2hlYWwtbWFydGluLWlyZWxhbmQtYmFja3N0b3AtbGVvLXZhcmFka2FyLXNwdC9hbXA?oc=5

2020-07-22 06:15:00Z
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