Government will not support hasty Brexit

The Government will not support a hasty British exit from the European Union, despite increased calls for one.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny is to insist Britain needs space and time to negotiate its departure from the union.

Mr Kenny will address the Dáil today on the implications of the vote this weekend for Ireland.

He will insist Ireland must be considered and careful in its approach, but will selfishly defend the national interest at a meeting of the European Council meeting this week.

It is understood Mr Kenny does not support the position of the European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, who has warned the British prime minister to trigger article 50 immediately and begin a two-year negotiating process.

Senior Government figures said any call to expedite the process is pointless, and is not in the best interests of the union or the UK.

Mr Kenny will tell the Dáil of Ireland’s contingency framework outlined by the Government last week.

The Taoiseach will attend the meeting of the European Council tomorrow and Wednesday. He will also meet his Northern Ireland counterparts at a meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council next week.

Mr Kenny will outline in the Dáil today the need to support agencies and institutions in the North. The majority of people in Northern Ireland voted for Britain to remain part of the European Union.

This has prompted Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams to call for a Border poll to take place as a matter of urgency.

"There is now a huge responsibility on the Irish Government to think nationally; that is with an all-island view.

“The people in the North voted to remain a part of the EU. English votes threaten to drag it out of the EU. It is imperative that this democratic deficit is challenged.

“Sinn Féin believes that that can best be achieved by the maximum co-operation between the Executive and the Government in Dublin upholding the vote of the electorate in the North.”