BLABBY Brexiteer Boris Johnson tried to “absorb time” to escape a grilling from RTE’s Bryan Dobson — before nicking the newsman’s notes in a bid to dodge his questions.

The ex-British Foreign Secretary and the Morning Ireland host crossed swords in a no-holds-barred Q&A on the UK’s divorce from the EU on Thursday.

4 Boris made a speech to the crowd before the Q&A

But it was Bojo who appeared more ruffled by the questions than our Dobbo.

In his opening speech at the Pendulum Summit in Dublin, Johnson insisted there’d be no tariffs imposed on Britain if they quit the EU with no deal.

Instead, he told the Convention Centre audience, there’d be a “standstill” and that Britain should be able to access the single market, but without being a member of the bloc.

Before a Q&A with the RTE journalist, Johnson gave a long speech — in which he claimed he was like the mayor from 1970s hit movie Jaws — and admitted: “I know the speech is very long but I am trying to absorb a lot of the time before a gentleman from RTE is unleashed on me.”

4 Some of Dobson's questions ruffled Johnson

He told the audience it’s just “Project Fear” to say “there is a risk of a hard border in Northern Ireland and a risk also that the UK may not have drinking water”.

But he appeared to accept that his country could be left without “two crucial ingredients for Mars bars — sucrose and whey apparently”.

But he said: “This is not the job of politicians, to go around moaning about potential shortages of Mars bars. It is our job to meet those challenges.”

Johnson also told the audience that his daughter was a student at Trinity College Dublin and is “having a wonderful time”. And he told how his flight to Dublin was delayed because “they were still loading 600 ducklings”.

But it wasn’t smooth sailing for Boris at the event — which had the theme ‘Leading You To Greatness’ — when Dobbo started to question him.

4 The ex-British Foreign Secretary was at the Pendulum Summit at the Convention Centre in Dublin

He denied World Trade Organisation tariffs would apply to the UK if there is no deal — even though that is accepted by all reasonable commentators.

Boris also told Dobbo there would be no need for “34 cent tariffs on Irish dairy products or that Ireland will start to restrict the importing of British daffodils or British ducks”.

Instead, he claimed: “What you do is you go to a standstill between the UK and the EU” where “both sides agree in the interim — what used to be called the implementation period — you have an extension of the existing zero-tariff arrangement”.

Dobbo quizzed Boris on comments he made at a Conservative meeting where he said “so few firms used the Border” that it was “beyond belief that we are allowing the tail wag the dog”.

As he bumbled on, Dobbo told him to “answer the question” and Boris ended up claiming there were just “53 firms of size” who used the Border.

But the RTE man revealed there are in fact “99 large companies and a total of 7,661 and they employ 1,670,000” and he pressed: “Is that small, is that few?”

4 The Brexiteer told the crowd how his flight to Dublin had been delayed

When Boris didn’t know the value of the exports from the North to the Republic, Dobbo later told him it was £2.7bn, and Johnson responded by walking over and stealing Dobbo’s notes and claimed: “This is heavily scripted.”

But unnerved Dobbo went on: “I will let you keep that, you might find it helpful.”

Dobbo quizzed him on why he supported the Withdrawal Agreement and the backstop clause in December yet then walked out of government seven months later. Dobbo also quoted a number of pro-EU statements from Boris from 2012 and accused him of doing a “flip flop”.

A bothered Boris replied: “I believed naively that I could make a difference from within Cabinet.”

He also claimed he was sceptical about Europe from his time living in Brussels, from 1988 to 1994, and said: “I urge you Bryan: talk to some of your friends from RTE.

Tommie Gorman, for instance, who lived in Brussels and would remember me. Ask Tommie whether I was a Euro-enthusiast.”

Meanwhile, the civil service in Northern Ireland is seeking volunteers to oversee fuel distribution in the event of an emergency.

The move is not in response to Brexit but comes weeks before the EU exit as businesses stockpile goods in Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Sinn Fein suggested advocates of a no-deal Brexit should be left to staff pumps and explain the disaster.

Officials, in a letter sent to many staff on Thursday and without reference to the EU divorce, said disruption to supplies was unlikely but it was necessary to put emergency response plans in place.

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They said Stormont's Department for the Economy would work with the oil industry to ensure that organisations and individuals providing key functions, such as hospitals and healthcare workers, continue to receive fuel until normal supply is restored.

The letter said: "These organisations and individuals would be directed to a network of strategically located filling stations spread across Northern Ireland and identified as a priority for supply from reduced stocks."

Two civil servants would be located at each of the designated filling stations for the period of an emergency to monitor fuel demand and ensure that the process runs effectively and efficiently.