Mr Varadkar is due to meet with Mr Johnson in Dublin tomorrow morning when the focus will be on Brexit and Northern Ireland.Mr Varadkar will point out that if Northern Ireland diverges from the Republic, it has the potential to damage community relations and cause political instability in the North.
Yesterday, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald urged the Taoiseach not to accept any checks on the island of Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Speaking in advance of a meeting of the party's Ard Comhairle in Dublin, Ms McDonald also said the party was now formally preparing for a Westminster election.
"We are very concerned to hear the Taoiseach think out loud and to concede the point that there might be checks anywhere on the island of Ireland," Ms McDonald said. "There can't be any check anywhere on the island of Ireland. That's entirely unacceptable. It would be an act of absolute political vandalism and wherever these checks might be located it would represent a serious breach of the Good Friday Agreement," she said.Brexit: The backstop dilemma burns bright