Taoiseach rules out bilateral Brexit deal

There is no possibility of the Republic of Ireland and the UK striking a bilateral deal with each other outside of the imminent Brexit negotiations involving the EU, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has stressed.

Mr Kenny definitively rejected the potential step after a high-level EU meeting in Brussels, as he admitted it may take longer than the two years initially outlined to untangle Britain and the EU from each other.

Speaking to reporters at the end of a European Council leaders’ meeting, part of which was attended by British prime minister Theresa May, Mr Kenny said he was aware of a report this week by the House of Lords calling for a separate deal between Dublin and London.