Ireland

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland’s main opposition party, Fianna Fail, surged into a 12-point lead over the governing Fine Gael party according to an opinion poll that was published on Sunday but conducted mainly before Prime Minister Leo Varadkar called a snap election.

Varadkar called the Feb. 8 poll on Tuesday, kicking off a campaign that will pit his party’s record on Brexit and Ireland’s fast growing economy against a struggling public services and a high cost of living, particularly in housing.

DUBLIN, Jan 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Some 19,000 Irish teachers will go on strike on Feb 4, potentially shutting schools just days before a national election in a bid to seek commitments to end a two-tier pay scale in the sector.

In a Feb 8 contest that pre-campaign polls suggest is too tight to call, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s re-election hopes may hinge on whether enough voters are feeling the benefit of a booming economy that has stretched public services still recovering from an economic crash a decade ago.

DUBLIN, Dec 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Ireland exported a total of 7.35 billion euros (about 8.13 billion U.S. dollars) worth of goods to China, in the first 10 months of this year, up by nearly 77 percent, compared with the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by the country’s Central Statistics Office (CSO).

BELFAST/GLASGOW (Reuters) - The election result was hailed as a victory for English, Scottish and Irish nationalism - and it could spell the end of the United Kingdom.

Boris Johnson’s resounding triumph will allow him to take the United Kingdom out of the European Union next month but it could spell the break-up of the union that has bound England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for centuries.

BELFAST (Reuters) - British police, investigating deaths of 39 people found dead in the back of a truck near London last week, made a direct appeal on Friday to two brothers from Northern Ireland to hand themselves in to detectives.

Police say Ronan Hughes and his brother Christopher are crucial to their inquiries into the discovery of the bodies of 31 men and eight women in the container on an industrial estate in Grays, to the east of the British capital.

(Reuters) - Arlene Foster, leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), told the Financial Times that her party opposed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s call for an early election.

"We need to amend that legislation and we need time to do that. If we consider that we won't have time to do that in the fashion that he (Johnson) is going to bring it forward then we will have to vote against him on this occasion," she told here the FT.

However, she added that the DUP would make its “final decision” on the day of the vote, according to the FT.

DUBLIN, Oct 24 (NNN-Xinhua) — Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar expressed his support for the proposal made by the European Council’s President Donald Tusk to grant a Brexit extension requested by Britain, according to a government statement.

“The Taoiseach (prime minister in English) confirmed his support for President Tusk’s proposal to grant the request for an extension which was sought by the UK” during a Wednesday morning phone talk with Tusk, said the statement.

DUBLIN (Reuters) - It will be very difficult to secure a Brexit agreement by next week with big gaps remaining in the British position, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Tuesday following a phone call with his British counterpart, Boris Johnson.

“I’ll certainly work until the very last moment to secure that (a deal) but not at any cost... I think it will be very difficult to secure an agreement by next week, quite frankly,” Varadkar told Irish national broadcaster RTE.

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar is seeking a meeting with his British counterpart Boris Johnson next week, stressing on Saturday that time was tight for London to go further with the fresh Brexit proposals it presented this week.

With less than a month until its scheduled exit, Johnson is seeking significant changes to how the most contentious issue - the border between British-ruled Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland - was dealt with in the divorce deal agreed by his predecessor, Theresa May, almost a year ago.

DUBLIN, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday that the latest Brexit proposals from the British government do not fully meet the agreed objectives of the backstop.

Varadkar made the comment in a statement issued after a phone talk with his British counterpart Boris Johnson, which took place on Wednesday evening.

In the statement, Varadkar indicated that he would study the proposals in further detail and would consult with the European Union (EU) institutions, including the EU Brexit task force and Ireland's EU partners.