Speaking on Tuesday night, he accused the UK of being focused on a London-London negotiation rather than a London-Brussels one – an obvious reference to the internal debate that is ongoing within the governing Conservative party in London.

“Brexiteers are hooked on brinkmanship,” Commissioner Hogan said. He added that despite evidence of UK businesses relocating, Brexit hardliners are holding the view that the “Union’s nerve will crack” as the deadline becomes closer.

The Commissioner was dismissive of this view, emphasising the extent of EU unity on the issue, not just at commission level, but also at member state level.

‘Scandal’

On the issue of Ireland and Brexit, he described it as a “scandal” that Northern Ireland politicians have not brokered a deal to get back into Stormont, leaving the people of Northern Ireland “out of the loop”. He went on to say that once the assembly is up and running again, the Stormont and Dublin administrations need to revitalise the North-South institutions to create “a warm house for discussing potential solutions to the problem of a hard Brexit.”

Commissioner Hogan was speaking at the launch of RTÉ’s Europe correspondent Tony Connolly’s book, Brexit and Ireland.

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Is the EU softening its tone towards the UK?

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