Yesterday evening, the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, had his second phone call with the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. The call lasted about an hour, twice as long as their previous call in July while they both agreed their first face to face meeting will be in Dublin this September.

The main substance of the call, of course, related to the ongoing Brexit stand while both leaders condemned the very worrying bombing by dissidents that took place earlier in the day in Fermanagh.

The Taoiseach laid out, again, the very clear position of the European Union that the Withdrawal Agreement is closed and that the backstop, while an insurance policy that no one ever wants to see kick in, is a vital part thereof.

Prime Minister Johnson went in detail about his current position, much of which was repeated in a letter later in the evening to European Council President, Donald Tusk. President’s response was both swift and accurate.

Prime Minister Johnson’s new-found assertion that the backstop is somehow anti-democratic is extremely disappointing and something that we simply do not accept. The backstop is a British creation and a product of the British Government’s own red lines, it was agreed to by a democratically elected British Government while Prime Minister Johnson voted for it just a few short months ago.