The world’s powerful and ambitious meet in Switzerland this month to advance common interests.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney’s assertion yesterday that a House of Commons a law precluding another extension of Brexit negotiations will not force the EU to rush into a deal was a badly-needed, rational and welcome reality check — especially as he would not have made such a clear statement unless he knew this view was shared in Brussels.

As 2019 ends, there is relief that political interference did not overly damage trade, but whereas we have escaped the bullet this time, we may not be so lucky in the new year.

From broadband and Brexit to swings and printers, TDs kept up the tradition of irritating voters with bizarre behaviour, writes Political Editor Daniel McConnell

The Irish Government raised concerns over claims made by a British Conservative minister that some lawyers in Northern Ireland were “unduly sympathetic to the IRA”, weeks before Pat Finucane was killed.

The trouble with paying too much attention to social media is that one risks becoming brainwashed with the drivel that passes for discourse on many social media channels.

The political ground has shifted in the North since last Thursday’s election.

The British Prime Minister will welcome the more than 100 newly-elected colleagues, many of them from former Labour areas across the north and Midlands, to the House of Commons on Monday.

The country is heading for a general election at the end of February following British prime minister Boris Johnson’s “stunning victory” which has handed him an 80-seat majority.

Reacting to Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decisive victory, European Union leaders said they are hoping for a quick British parliament vote on Britain's withdrawal.

Mr Varadkar said the next step is to ratify the Withdrawal Agreement which guarantees no hard border between North and South.

Voting is continuing in the final hour of this year’s General Election.

Irene O’Mara teaches acting & voice on the Drama & Musical Theatre course at Cork School of Music. Originally from Dublin, she’s been living in Cork since 2012.

Lindsay Hoyle has been elected the new House of Commons Speaker by British MPs.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and British prime minister Boris Johnson are in very similar, but entirely different, positions this morning.

The DUP has said peace in Northern Ireland is at risk if a Brexit deal draws a customs border in the Irish Sea.

EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan has said there will not be a no-deal Brexit, despite swirling uncertainty about the prospect of a general election in Britain.

In a major Houses of the Oireachtas Commission survey which was leaked earlier this week, officials found that a large number of people working in Leinster House have suffered significant bullying and harassment.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said a Brexit extension, if granted, is likely to be a flexible one that would allow the UK to leave the EU prior to the end of January.

Shops will be forced to pay for licences to sell tobacco and e-cigarette products and will be named and shamed and face potential fines if they fail to do so under new government plans.

British prime minister Boris Johnson is to seek to fast-track legislation to ratify his Brexit deal through the Commons in just three days as he attempts to avoid another delay to Britain’s departure from the EU.

Even Brexiteers are beginning to realise that the Kafkaesque nightmare is a UK problem, not a European one. The EU’s patience will run out eventually, writes Lionel Laurent.

Direct rule would need to be introduced in Northern Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit, the British Government has confirmed.

It was billed as “Super Saturday” as the UK Commons held a weekend sitting for the first time in 37 years, but things did not go the way British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had planned.

A defiant British Prime Minister said he will not negotiate a fresh Brexit delay with the EU despite losing a key Commons vote.

Two exceptional events today, one in Tokyo the other in London, will set the mood of the nation.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned MPs the only "plan B" to the Brexit agreement is a crash out no deal, insisting it would be a "mistake" if anyone votes against the plan due to an assumption another offer will be made.

The Taoiseach has made it clear that although Ireland would be open to an extension for Britain, plan B is no-deal.

British prime minister Boris Johnson has just 24 hours to win enough MP support to drag the Brexit deal over the line — or face the prospect of the DUP tearing up the agreement just as it has been reached.

All over the world, historians are dusting off a phrase that regularly has a sharp, if fleeting, relevance: Pre-revolutionary conditions.

Crucially from an Irish perspective, the deal done in Brussels today removes the threat of a border on the island of Ireland.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a “great new” Brexit deal had been agreed “that takes back control”.

European Council president Donald Tusk has said the "punchline" in the Brexit deal drama will be whether British prime minister Boris Johnson "has done what he should" and passes the agreement through the House of Commons.

Britain’s financial services industry, the country’s biggest tax earner, risks being cut adrift from its main export market — the EU — after Brexit.

Abortion reforms in Northern Ireland risk being slowly unpicked by UK ministers, the House of Commons has heard.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has dismissed speculation about a Northern Ireland-only backstop and said she expects to meet Boris Johnson tonight.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has revealed last-minute EU-UK talks to secure a Brexit deal are "moving in the right direction" - despite saying it "remains unclear" if an agreement will be struck by tomorrow's EU summit.

Fianna Fáil has criticised Sinn Féin for refusing to take its Westminster seats for crucial Brexit votes.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said his preference is still to hold a general election next spring despite pressure mounting to go to the polls as a successful Brexit deal looms.

Brexit provides dissident republicans with a “rallying cry” in their bid to perpetuate the severe threat they pose to security services in the North, a senior PSNI officer has said.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will “run as far away as possible from a domestic agenda” if a Brexit deal is agreed and he calls a snap general election.

Britain will control what happens to Rosslare Port after Brexit unless the Government immediately acts, a Fianna Fáil TD has warned.

Over the last three years, Brexit has been a toxic, deeply divisive issue. Old scars have been picked.

Incoming EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan has said the “mood music” on a Brexit deal has changed and added he is now “cautiously optimistic” an agreement can be reached.