EU uneasy over Ireland’s Brexit no-deal readiness

Ireland’s leader Leo Varadkar welcomes German chancellor Angela Merkel to Dublin on Thursday determined to reassure the EU that his country is ready to deal with the chaos that would be unleashed by a no-deal Brexit. Public support for Ireland — the EU country most exposed if the UK crashes out of the bloc — has so far been strong: this week French president Emmanuel Macron has told the taoiseach that Europe “will never abandon Ireland and the Irish, no matter what happens”. But anxiety in EU circles is growing about Dublin’s readiness for a no-deal scenario, when Brussels would require extensive checks on cross-border trade between Ireland and the UK — the very thing Mr Varadkar hoped to avert by insisting on the “backstop” in Theresa May’s disputed Brexit treaty.