Kenny contradictory on Brexit and border

IT isn’t often that a nationalist southern newspaper is in agreement with a lofty, unionist member of Britain’s House of Lords, but it is hard to argue with the logic of Ulster Unionist, Peer Lord Empey, regarding the Taoiseach’s contradictory remarks over Brexit.

Up to his meeting in Dublin, on Thursday, with French president Francois Hollande, Enda Kenny repeatedly said that Britain should not be bullied into making a quick exit from the EU by triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. That would put in train the formal process of leaving.

In the immediate aftermath of the referendum decision, the Taoiseach publicly supported then prime minister, David Cameron’s preference for Britain to be given breathing space, before it started formal negotiations on withdrawal.