Johnson meets Irish PM over Brexit stalemate

THORNTON MANOR (ENGLAND): British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met his Irish counterpart in northern England on Thursday in a last-ditch attempt to revive a British proposal for a Brexit deal that the European Union said falls far short of what is needed for an orderly departure.

Ireland is crucial to any Brexit solution. The EU member must approve any plan for its border with the British province of Northern Ireland, the bloc's only land frontier with the United Kingdom. But with just three weeks before the United Kingdom is due to leave the world's biggest trading bloc, no solution has been found to avoid reimposing a hard border, making it unclear on what terms it will quit or even whether it will at all.

As both sides position for another delay followed by a British election, or an acrimonious divorce on October 31, Johnson met Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar at Thornton Manor in Cheshire on Thursday.

“Looking forward to a detailed discussion to see if we can make any progress," Varadkar said on Twitter.