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Sources say there will be one backstop to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland

EU and UK officials agree on text for Irish border

EU and UK negotiators have agreed a text that deals with the Irish border, RTÉ News understands.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaking at the EU summit in Brussels today

'Real risk' of violence if hard-border re-emerges

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has described Brexit as "the political equivalent of climate change" and warned of a return to violence in Ireland if a hard border re-emerges.

Brexit • 18 Oct 18

Coveney says Brexit talks will need November meeting

Brexit negotiations will probably need to run into November to finalise a withdrawal treaty, including a so-called "backstop" agreement to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, the Tánaiste has said.

Brexit • 09 Oct 18

The Taoiseach said the Brexit negotiations were entering a critical phase and time was running out

Tusk says Soviet Union remarks 'unwise' and 'insulting'

The European Council President Donald Tusk has delivered a stern rebuke to the British government's position on Brexit following the Conservative Party conference.

Brexit • 04 Oct 18

The pound hit a one-week high against the euro, extending overnight gains and heading for its biggest two-day rise since November

Positive signals from talks drives sterling higher

Positive signals from London and Brussels over the trade component of EU divorce talks drove sterling higher against the euro, though the risk of a no-deal Brexit kept the British currency well off 2018 highs.

Business • 30 Aug 18

There is greater concern that the UK could leave the EU without a Brexit deal

Irish border backstop on Brexit talks agenda

The latest round of Brexit negotiations is due to get under way in Brussels today, with officials discussing the border and trade.

Brexit • 16 Aug 18

President Macron said spending commitments would remain the same despite Trump's claim of increased budgets

Macron tempers Trump's claim over NATO spending

French President Emmanuel Macron has said NATO's spending commitments remain the same despite US President Donald Trump saying he had pushed fellow NATO leaders to boost their budgets immediately.

World • 12 Jul 18

Migrants wait to be registered and assisted by Red Cross at Motril port, Granada, Spain

Main points of EU migration deal

"Disembarkation platforms", "controlled centres" and strengthening external borders are the main points of the deal reached at a Brussels summit.

Europe • 29 Jun 18

Leo Varadkar was speaking at the end of a two-day EU summit in Brussels

'Unrealistic' for backstop to apply to UK as a whole

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said it is unrealistic to expect the backstop to avoid a hard border to apply to the UK as a whole.

Brexit • 29 Jun 18

The process of Britain leaving the EU is due to roll out over many years to come, with plenty of uncertainties along the way

Uncertainties remain central to Brexit process

Two years have passed since the UK voted to leave the European Union, and there are still 279 days to go until the official date of Brexit on 29 March 2019.

Brexit • 22 Jun 18

Huge numbers of migrants and refugees are making perilous journeys to Europe

EU leaders to hold mini-summit on migration

Several EU leaders will hold special talks on migration in Brussels on Sunday to try to find answers ahead of a major summit next week, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.

Europe • 20 Jun 18

May calls for unity in key Brexit votes

Brexit • 11 Jun 18

Boris Johnson made the call during a visit to Argentina

Johnson urges May to take UK out of customs union

Britain's foreign minister Boris Johnson has said Prime Minister Theresa May must "get on with it" and take Britain out of the European customs union "as fast as is reasonably possible".

Brexit • 23 May 18

DUP leader accuses EU of 'over-reach' in Brexit draft

DUP leader Arlene Foster has accused the European Union of "over-reach" in the draft legal text published last week on avoiding a hard border.

Brexit • 06 Mar 18

Mairead McGuinness regularly deputises for Antonio Tajani

McGuinness could succeed Tajani in parliament post

Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness could be the new president of the European Parliament, pending the results of this weekend's Italian election.

Europe • 03 Mar 18

EU to signal a transition period extending beyond 2020 may be possible

EU may leave door open to longer transition period

The European Union is prepared to countenance a Brexit transition period longer than the two years initially envisaged, RTÉ News understands.

Brexit • 25 Jan 18

Salah Abdeslam is the only surviving suspect in the Paris attacks which killed 130 people

Date set for Abdeslam's trial over Brussels shootout

A Belgian court has delayed until February the trial of Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over a shooting in Brussels that led to his capture.

World • 18 Dec 17

Leo Vardkar said joint commitment is 'rock solid and cast iron'

Taoiseach says commitments on border are 'bulletproof'

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the Brexit deal between the European Union and the UK, which was announced in Brussels, has achieved "what we sought to achieve".

Brexit • 09 Dec 17

A sea of around 45,000 pro-Catalonia protesters demonstrated in Brussels

45,000 pro-Catalan protesters march in Brussels

Nearly 50,000 people have marched through Brussels' European quarter in support of Catalan independence and the region's president.

World • 07 Dec 17

EU officials asking 'What is going on in Dublin?'

EU leaders and senior officials from the institutions are well schooled in the art of not commenting on the internal political affairs of member states, at least not in public.

Brexit • 25 Nov 17

Leo Varadkar reject the idea that Brexit negotiations are at a cliff edge

Varadkar says we are not yet on Brexit 'cliff edge'

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has rejected the idea that the Brexit negotiations are at a cliff edge, but he called for more detailed and concrete solutions from the British government on the Irish question.

Brexit • 19 Oct 17

Belgium's federal prosecutors are treating the incident as an attempted terrorist murder

Brussels attack treated as 'attempted terrorist murder'

A man who was shot in Brussels after attacking two soldiers with a knife last night has died, according to Belgium's federal prosecutors.

World • 26 Aug 17

Salah Abdeslam has refused to speak about the attacks to investigators in France

Paris attack suspect to be tried separately in Belgium

Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in 2015 Islamist attacks on Paris who is currently jailed in France, will face trial in Belgium over a police shootout at his suspected hideout in Brussels, Belgian prosecutors said.

World • 17 Aug 17

Police cordon outside Brussels Central railway station

Explosives discovered in home of Belgian attacker

Belgian authorities have found signs that the man who set off an explosion at a Brussels train station supported the so-called Islamic State group, and explosives have been found in his home.

World • 21 Jun 17

Jean-Claude Juncker addresses a conference in Florence

Juncker takes swipe at Britain over English language

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker took a swipe at Britain, saying he would not give a speech in English because the language was becoming less significant following Brexit.

Brexit • 05 May 17