Tonight, EU leaders including Mr Varadkar were discussing a detailed proposal to extend the March 29 date without any pre-conditions surrounding the deal.

Neutrality does not suffice in a world dominated by the US and China, and with the far right resurgent, Ireland must stand up for the values of the European Union, says Malcolm Byrne.

From New York to Budapest, you can celebrate St Patrick’s Day almost anywhere in the world. Ciara McDonnell helps you get planning for next year

Attitudes towards Brexit have hardened "quite markedly" in European capitals over the past two or three weeks, the UK's former ambassador to the EU has warned.

Theresa May will be met with a 132-square-metre reminder she supported Remain on her visit to Brussels on Wednesday evening after a British activist group paid for a huge advertisement in the city centre.

You know your stock has fallen to all time lows when even Brussels bureaucrats tell a reverend's daughter to go to hell, but warn the devil himself may not let her in because of the damage being caused her own country.

European Council president Donald Tusk has poured petrol onto the Brexit flames by telling British MPs to explain to him "what that special place in hell looks like for people who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan".

Thousands of students in Belgium have skipped school for the third week in a row and more than 30,000 swamped the centre of Brussels to demand better protection of the world's climate.

So, if it’s not too much trouble, and only because it’s Christmas, this December may I please have… a miracle?

In Brussels this morning Leo Varadkar said he was happy with the backing the EU has given Ireland.

Speaking to reporters as she arrived for the EU summit in Brussels, Ms May said while she will underline her parliament's concerns over the existing deal, no changes are immediately apparent.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will hold a bilateral meeting with British prime minister Theresa May before today's EU summit in Brussels amid growing fears of a no deal Brexit.

Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he hoped the Brexit deal would soon be finalised as he arrived in Downing Street for talks.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has thrown down a marker to British prime minister Theresa May by warning her there will be a Northern Ireland Brexit backstop deal "or nothing".

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has called for protests against Donald Trump to be "peaceful" and says those intending to cause trouble are "unwelcome".

EU leaders agreed a compromise deal to tackle the migration crisis following late-night talks in Brussels.

Day two of the European Council meeting in Brussels will focus on Brexit.

The European Union has published a draft of the Brexit withdrawal agreement to ensure Britain's "orderly" departure from the bloc in March 2019.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has claimed it is "almost in the bag" that Ireland will have two more MEP seats if the UK leaves the EU - but has insisted he has no plans to allow citizens of Northern Ireland a say on who is elected to the roles.

Latest: Belgian police sealed off part of a Brussels suburb on Thursday and searched two apartments, warning residents to stay inside following witness reports that an armed man could be at large.

Hungary's prime minister says "Christianity is Europe's last hope" and that politicians in Brussels, Berlin and Paris favouring migration have "opened the way to the decline of Christian culture and the advance of Islam".

Theresa May will urge Brussels to ignore the rule book and do whatever it takes to ensure the security of Europe is protected after Brexit.

Boris Johnson has signalled that he believes he is winning the battle in Cabinet over Britain's approach to EU regulations after Brexit.

Latest: Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned that Britain will face "losses" when it exits the European Union as an historic deal was agreed for Brexit

Theresa May has made clear she will not be deflected from delivering Brexit by her humiliating defeat at the hands of Tory rebels in the House of Commons.

Latest: Sinn Fein has given a "cautious and qualified" welcome to the agreement on the Irish border post-Brexit.

Celtic will be playing European football after Christmas despite a 1-0 Champions League defeat by Anderlecht at Parkhead.

This country will be asked sooner or later to leave the EU given that it is now notifying Brussels of its intention to give state aid to firms because of Brexit, which it knows it should not do under strict EU rules.

The EU wants the UK to make a political commitment to maintaining the Good Friday Agreement in a Brexit divorce deal, the Irish Examiner has learnt.

A man has been shot by soldiers in the centre of Brussels, after he attacked them with a knife.

The UK could be forced to toe the Brussels line on crucial legislation on privacy and national security for years after Brexit to maintain the free exchange of data with EU countries.

Latest: A bomb squad has found no explosives after a man who claimed to be carrying a device in his car in Brussels was stopped by police.

Four people have been detained in a series of raids in Brussels linked to the failed bombing at a railway station this week by a man shouting "Allahu akbar", Belgian authorities said.

LATEST: The quick shooting of an attacker who tried to detonate a nail bomb and shouted "Allahu akbar" at a Brussels train station averted fatalities, officials said, as Belgium increased security measures around the country.

Negotiations on Brexit began in Brussels yesterday but, beyond those bare facts, it is not possible to record any achievement beyond the beating of chests so very usual at moments like this.

The British Prime Minister Theresa May says Brussels is going to take a "tough" approach in the Brexit negotiations.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has bemoaned the lack of clarity from Britain on its post-Brexit relationship with the European Union.

A man involved in the Brussels airport bombing last March has now been charged over the Paris terror attacks.

Ireland must not allow itself to be “punished” for having a clear market need to continue selling products to Britain in a post-Brexit world.

Brussels officials said the resignation of Ivan Rogers meant the UK had lost a "professional" diplomat who had always "loyally defended" his Government.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has outlined her Brexit intentions to European leaders.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has pledged to continue to "work closely" with the EU after Brexit but has voiced her unhappiness about being left out of a meeting of leaders.

Austria’s foreign minister has threatened to block the expansion of negotiations with Turkey on its accession to the European Union, which could scupper a landmark migration deal between Brussels and Ankara.