Varadkar hits back at DUP and says ‘We should all be afraid of no-deal’

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said everyone in Ireland and the UK should be afraid of a no-deal Brexit.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the launch the development of the Brewhouse building on the Abbey Quarter site in Kilkenny. PRESS ASSOCIATION

Varadkar also rejected criticism that he was engaging in “project fear”-style rhetoric over a united Ireland after Brexit.

Last week Mr Varadkar said moderate unionists and nationalists could question being part of the UK if they were forced into a hard Brexit.

DUP leader Arlene Foster called on Mr Varadkar to “dial down the rhetoric” and accused him of behaving “crassly” towards victims of the Northern Ireland conflict.

Mr Varadkar responded: “I have never refused a meeting request from the DUP and never refused a phone call from Arlene either, and she has my number. I wouldn’t accept that criticism at all.”

He continued: “I think we should be afraid of a no-deal Brexit... a no-deal Brexit would have very serious impacts on the economy, north and south, and on Britain. It could have security implications as well and it could have constitutional implications.”

Asked if he was worried about a private dinner between Boris Johnson and the DUP, Mr Varadkar said the UK government “must be rigorously impartial in how it administers Northern Ireland”.