Waiting for the Brexit finale has been a bit like sitting in a dentist’s surgery for three years — scared of the worst while hoping for the best, yet willing to accept a modicum of discomfort to get it all over with.

When Brexit first drove up the cost of importing ingredients like jasmine rice, curry paste and coconut milk from Thailand, London restaurant owner Saiphin Moore travelled to her native country to cut out the middlemen.

Retail sales - in terms of both volume and value - grew in the second quarter of the year, but pubs and car dealerships remained the traditional losers.

The Great Hack looks at the implications of the scandal involving Cambridge Analytica and Facebook, writes Laura Harding.

Ceta contains many benefits for the EU and Canada, but balanceof positives and negatives would be very different for UK, writes Andrew Hammond.

In a recent written Dáil reply to Fine Gael TD Hildegarde Naughton, Minister Coveney stated that to date this year, over 490,000 passports have been issued.

A no-deal Brexit could see the entire island of Ireland treated as one economic zone for food and agriculture trade, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has signalled.

The Government has been accused of “hiding”’ sensitive issues from the public after it emerged that the possibility of a border poll will not be included in the National Risk Assessment.

“When you live in Cavan, you live in a border region, the travel back and forth across the border is absolutely huge”

Since the UK voted, back in 2016, to exit the EU, Irish exporters have consistently been warned that they were far too reliant on the British market. Recent events in Westminster have heightened the concern.

In January last year, IDA Ireland announced record results with nearly 230,000 people now employed in FDI companies.

Any hope of a last-ditch deal to prevent a crash-out Brexit is vanishing after EU leaders warned British prime minister Theresa May they will offer her nothing in make-or-break talks today and tomorrow — telling Brexiteers they have “a special place in hell”.

Delegates at last week’s Oxford Farming Conference said they would vote 60% in favour of remaining in the EU, if there was a second Brexit referendum. However, the Theresa May exit deal would be favoured by 30%, while 10% would opt for “leave with no deal”.

Britain’s economic growth slowed to a crawl at the end of 2018, according to new data, less than three months before Brexit.

Here's your morning bulletin.

Sterling stumbled yesterday as UK transport minister Jo Johnson resigned, saying he wants a new Brexit referendum, and the DUP clashed with prime minister Theresa May over potential plans for the Border.

Brightening prospects of what looked like, even a week ago, an unlikely Brexit breakthrough will be the key focus of Irish exporters, foreign exchange traders, and the Dublin and London stock markets this week.

The UK Labour party will vote on whether to have a second Brexit referendum if Theresa May fails to get her plans through parliament.

Sterling jumped, and currency-dependent British stocks fell yesterday, after the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier signalled an accommodative stance towards the UK on ongoing Brexit negotiations.

Severe cuts to Tourism Ireland’s marketing budget during the recession must be reversed — with a significant chunk needed to capitalise on the surge of US and European holidaymakers to the Republic.

Some 80,000 obese children in Ireland need surgical intervention to tackle their weight issues or they may not make it to adulthood, a doctor has warned.

UK voters’ decision to leave the EU may have been motivated by domestic issues such as immigration, but the costs of departure are being felt first in foreign policy, writes Mark Malloch-Brown.

Awareness that internet platforms can be manipulated to undermine democracy is growing, but governments have yet to devise a defence.

For the small and very open Irish economy, 2017 set a positive backdrop and one that was reflected in a strong Irish growth performance, writes Jim Power

There are fresh hopes of a breakthrough in the Brexit deadlock as Taoiseach Leo Varadkar suggested he could receive an amended deal from British Prime Minister Theresa May as early as today.

Applications by British people for Irish citizenship has increased more than tenfold in the last three years.

There is room for a special deal on the North in any Brexit deal. 

The export sector is the lifeblood of the small open Irish economy and if this sector is doing well, then the whole economy tends to do well, writes Jim Power.

The chancellor faces a financial headache amid a tumultuous time for the Tories and ahead of next month’s vital Brexit summit, writes Paul Wallace.

Our addiction to social media and online services means multinationals are capable of targeting us to sell their products and services. Áilín Quinlan asks if we need stronger checks on their power.

We owe it to all of those who suffered under past authoritarian regimes to stand up now, writes Guy Verhofstadt

Trade figures suggest Irish firms involved in exports and imports of goods with Britain are faring surprisingly well amid the Brexit-driven slump in the value of sterling against the euro.

The two-party system in Britain was threatened in the early ’80s. It’s time someone set out to challenge the establishment again, writes Bill Emmott.

The US president is in Poland this week, where his brand of populism is welcome, as it is in Hungary, but we must not allow him to play eastern and western Europe against each other, says Guy Verhofstadt.

The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator has promised to deal with negotiations on the UK's withdrawal in a "constructive" way and said he believed a "fair" deal was possible for both sides and "far better" than the prospect of the UK leaving without an agreement.

Governments and civil servants in 27 EU countries now have to waste time on the British problem, when there are many other vital issues to be addressed, writes John Bruton

The UK’s decision to leave the EU casts a long shadow over Thursday’s election, and has led to an erosion of traditional party loyalties, writes Kylie MacLellan.   

The late Taoiseach Albert Reynolds once pointed out that you can cross the big hurdles successfully, but you get tripped up when you get to the small ones.

Liberals have taken heart from Emmanuel Macron’s early showing in the French presidential elections, but they shouldn’t get carried away, writes Mark J Roe.

The number of unsold London homes under construction rose to a record high in the first quarter as higher taxes, affordability issues and economic uncertainty damp demand for the most expensive properties.

The ratio of nursing jobs in Ireland to nurses looking for them is four to one, an indication of the challenges faced by HSE that is trying to fill these crucial roles.

Economic pragmatism played a huge part in Martin McGuinness’ transformation from IRA leader to peace-seeking statesman, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

Gatwick Airport insists it remains a "credible and deliverable option" for runway expansion after recording almost double-digit growth in passenger numbers last month.