The Dáil has given near universal backing the crucial EU-UK backstop agreement despite ongoing hard border concerns and fears Ireland is failing to prepare for a doomsday deal collapse.

Developers have been warned to prepare for a hard Brexit which could impact the supply and cost of building materials.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but... this week is make or break time for Brexit. Again.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned that Ireland “cannot contemplate” a hard Brexit situation which will create a physical border with Northern Ireland amid growing fears Britain could crash out of the EU without a deal.

The latest proposals from the British government have been described as a “step towards a much softer Brexit” by Tánaiste Simon Coveney.

The fundamentals have not shifted, but at least now we have a clear plan with which we can work.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney will meet British government ministers in London tomorrow to assess the latest efforts by London to resolve disagreement over Brexit and ahead of expected fresh proposals.

One of the country’s main farming representative organisations has warned that Ireland’s view of Brexit cannot be anchored entirely to the issue of the border and that more attention should be paid to cross-channel trade.

Ireland has been making contingency arrangements for a hard Brexit for “some time” but will never tolerate a border with the North, the Taoiseach has said.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has spoken to the British Prime Minister this evening following her call for a snap election.