More than 200 figures from Northern Ireland society have written to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar warning that the UK's split from Europe is offensive and unacceptable.

Among the names from the world of sport, the arts, business, community work and the legal sector are Republic of Ireland footballer James McClean and Queen's University Professor Phil Scraton who campaigned to exposed the Hillsborough disaster.

The group, which also sent the letter to The Irish News in Belfast and The Irish Times in Dublin, described themselves as Irish citizens and criticised the near year long deadlock at Stormont.

Other signatories included Olympic boxers Michael Conlan and Paddy Barnes and solicitor Darragh Mackin of KRW Law, whose work helped secure the release of Irish man Ibrahim Halawa after four years in jail in Egypt.

"The impending reality of Brexit now threatens to reinforce partition on this island and revisit a sense of abandonment as experienced by our parents and grandparents," they write.