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Updated 3.55pm
TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR said today that the government will need to “seriously ask” whether a withdrawal agreement is possible at all if there is no significant progress by June on the “backstop’’ in the Brexit treaty that guarantees no hard border in Ireland.
Varadkar was commenting after the Daily Telegraph reported that the European Union has roundly rejected proposals from the British government for avoiding a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
EU sources told the Telegraph that Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans were subjected to a “systematic and forensic annihilation” at a meeting between senior figures on both sides this week.
The Telegraph’s source is quoted as saying that it was made clear that “none of the UK’s customs options will work”, as part of a “detailed and forensic rebuttal”.
Varadkar said today that the Irish government is “open to alternative proposals that may come from the United Kingdom” but that, so far, “they haven’t been forthcoming”.
Prime Minister May has been clear in her plans for the UK to leave the single market and customs union but, in December, the British government offered a guarantee that this would not mean a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Tánaiste Simon Coveney would not comment explicitly on the leak in today’s Telegraph, saying that the Irish government does its talking through the EU taskforce and through regular private contact with the British government.
Speaking in Cork today, he said that Ireland’s position is “rock solid and consistent” and that he is “confident” that negotiations will be able to end with no hard border while protecting Ireland’s close relationship with Britain and the island’s internal market.
What is being dubbed as the “penny dropping” moment for the UK is widely seen as the EU taskforce and the other member states standing behind Ireland and it’s position on the border.
The Irish government has repeatedly taken the stance of – if the UK wants to sever trade ties with the EU in this way – the onus is on the British to find a solution for the border.
There are three ways this could happen: either the UK actually retains membership of the single market and customs union (which May has always ruled out), some kind of technological solutions are found to address the specific problems in Ireland, or that Northern Ireland remains part of the single market while the rest of the UK leaves.
The last choice is unpalatable to many UK politicians, particularly the DUP whose support is keeping May’s Conservatives in government.
That leaves the second option which would allow the UK to set its own tariffs on trade while avoiding a hard border, and it is proposals on these solutions that are reported to have been roundly dismissed by the EU this week.
The Telegraph reported that two proposals were given. The first, dubbed a “customs partnership” would have seen the UK set its own system of tariffs on goods entering it, but also act as a collector of EU customs duties on goods that enter the UK bound for an EU country.
As this would put the onus on businesses to collect the tariffs – in lieu of a border check collecting it – the EU rejected it. It was also rejected as the EU would not allow a country outside its supervision mechanisms to level duties on goods, and implementing the scheme would be too expensive.
The other option was rejected by the EU as a “turning a blind eye” approach.
The “customs arrangement” would have seen technological and administrative measures ensuring trade with the EU remaining frictionless. In the specific case of Northern Ireland, it would have allowed traders to operate across the border without any checks.
Writing in The Irish Times today, Coveney said there are five rounds of negotiations between now and June for the British government to follow through on their political commitments given last December and March and to reach agreement with the EU taskforce.
“I was very clear in London that Ireland needed to see definitive progress by June. If not, it will be difficult for the negotiations to proceed as before,” the Tánaiste stated in the article.
May is under pressure in the House of Commons from a group of MPs seeking to keep the UK in the customs union. This would remove the possibility of a hard border in Northern Ireland, but it is opposed by hardline Conservative MPs.
This will be debated in Westminster next Thursday. While any vote is not binding, any loss for the government will heap further pressure on its current Brexit strategy.
Time is running out for a border found, with the UK due to leave the EU in less than a year, and everything needing to be agreed by roughly October of this year.
Additional reporting by Christina Finn
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1)Dont buy shite you dont need.
2)stop drinking smoking and gambling.
3)set up a direct debit savings account.
4)be grateful for what you already have !
Otherwords live like a peasant nobody
I did most of these things in the last year or so, I really don’t live like a peasant! Actually I’m doing better now than in the boom!
dont knock it till you try it. Did it last year and buying a new car soon.
Disconnect your doorbell from the electricity and check your door every 2 minutes. Substantial savings to be made over the course of a year.
Brilliant, you could also save on gym fees by getting plenty of exercise by doing all that walking back and forth to the door :)
And you won’t have time to watch tv with all the exercising you’ll be doing so sell that on DoneDeal and save a fortune on electricity to boot!
Great idea, then unsubscribe from Sky UPC you won’t get a chance to watch tv, then stick the tv etc on Donedeal for an extra few quid !! I’m off to disconnect the doorbell
Ring your friend and hang up. They see the missed call and ring you back.
Only butter one piece of bread in a sandwich.
Pick cigarette butts up off the ground.
Steal drinks on nights out.
Turn condoms inside out for a second shag.
Give this man a TV show.
I actually had a friend do the missed call thing for years. And always during working hours so that I was definitely not going to answer. Untik one day I was on leave, answered the phone and copped on.
1. Have your butler jump up and down in your waste bin. You can get more in that way.
2. Have your blacksmith shoe your horses every other week.
3. Ask your butcher to cut up road kill you find.
My biggest saving tip is stay away from Penneys, it’s nearly impossible for me to go in there without spending money. The Cineworld ticket is a good idea but avoid the rip off popcorn…Crouching Tiger, Hidden Taytos…
dont sit in front of me making loud rustling noises with your crisps or Ill flick you with my over priced popcorn ;-) . Cinemas are bad at providing savoury foods, if Im of a mind to I bring in a sushi platter as a treat.
Watch T.V through the neighbours window, having a ladder to look through the bedroom window saves the need for the internet. Eat only what nature can provide ie cows, badgers, crows, mushrooms, grass etc. Catch lifts everywhere hanging on to the back of jeeps, buses etc whilst on your skateboard a la Marty Mcfly. Remember what Bosco said “possesion is nine-tenths of the law” so basically thieve what you like. Live in a cave or nice ditch.
Do a “Fiscal Fast” This is not my idea but one I saw on extreme cheapskates. Basically for one week every so often you commit to spending no money or if that’s not possible as little as possible. So you use up what food is in your house. Take packed lunches and flasks or tea or coffee to work. When your petrol runs out walk or use a bike. Don’t eat take aways or eat out . Free entertainment only so no cinemas or pubs or such for a week. You could do your own DVD night with home made snacks. Don’t but clothes make up or visit a hairdresser or a barbers. No newspapers or magazines no wine .
Now some people need to use public transport to get to work so you can’t cut that but anything you can cut to the bone for a week then you need to do it. If you do this even once every two to three months you could be surprised at what you could save. Extreme cheapskates take it too far for my personal tastes but you can still do a fiscal fast without making a holy show if yourself to the outside world.
^^^^ I don’t want to live on this planet anymore ^^^
Shower in work, the gym or on site after foorball if the options are available. Electric Showers are a ‘gas gusselers’
EMIGRATE!
When the water charge comes in I intend showering at the gym every day, though now you say it, it might take the esb bill down if I started that now :)
Check under the price in supermarkets for price per kg. I used to always try to work out if bigger or different brands were better value and this is fool proof.
And make sure the special offers are actually worth it – quite often they aren’t.
The two best pieces of advice so far. It’s not cheaper to go 3 for 2 if you only need one ;)
Yeah once I went to buy the Eco friendly refill pack for the coffee and looked at the price per kg and it worked out dearer. Stupid really. Sometimes there are big whopper jars of stuff that work out dearer than buying 2 smaller ones to the same weight. In Tesco at the moment it works out cheaper to buy 4 chocolate Freddo bars than to buy a pack of four. Usually when u see multi pack you think better value, but you have to be clever because that’s not always the case
put your credit card on DD, only mugs pay them interest
Or better still cancel them and use visa debit, it’s cheaper to book flights ect if you use a debit card instead of visa.
Aldi..haven’t you seen the adverts..
Ahh sure I’m aldi, aldi, aldi all the way now. (Shudders)
LOL. You wanna be some loser to do that kettle one. Saving hot water in a flask . Sad.
Advising people to drink cordials in a pub instead of fizzy drinks! What about the fella running the pub.
The cordials one is a great idea. Sometimes I don’t drink and drive my friends to the pub-I don’t spend much and the pub gets money from my friends buying pints, win win!
Bought a gadget from one of those cheap home shopping catalogues that was dropped in my door a few years ago.
Its a gadget that compacts all the leftover bits of soap and you end up with a bar of soap.
Voilà.
Hairy soap !.
(Two in one, an exfoliant and soap).
Cut out biscuits
Unions have ordered nationwide strikes for things like that.
If you can do €50 this week chances are you can do it every week to Christmas and then you will have 2500 by the new year. Stop buying Lotto tickets and if you must have a flutter do it at the bookies. Make your lunch at home and take it to work – last night’s left overs might be enough. Walk don’t drive and buy yourself a granny shopping cart – you can’t buy what you can’t pull and what you can’t pull you don’t need. Brew your own. Bake your own. Cook your own. Baked beans made at home from scratch are cheaper and taste better than anything out of a tin.
if it takes someone a year to save 2500 im sorry but by god that is pathetic
Ah Aaron that’s a bit harsh, some people have absolutely no extra cash
If you look strategically at saving, I should add over-saving, it is bad for business especially small businesses. This will only prolong the recovery period if a lot of people do it. My advice – reduce expensive debts where possible spend i.e. Credit card, and spend wisely and locally, there is plenty of good value out there
It’s killing small business. The solution with all these articles is cutting out a coffee and sambo… There are better ways to save.
You’d wonder the point of living here if you are on permanent student mode?
Poop at work .saves toilet paper ..
Cancel Sky.. But buy a monthly cinema pass? Think the monthly cinema pass will end up costing way more than your Sky sub.. Don’t need to drive or get a bus to my couch and pop corn costs way less at home.
Just get a cheap internet deal which eliminates both those.
1, 2, 3 thejournal.ie just log on and save money…
If you’re fit and healthy, ditch your health insurance. You don’t need it.
People haven’t a clue how little it covers. They’re buying the fluffiest product of all.
The advertisements are getting ever increasingly cynical and desperate: “You don’t love your kids if you forgo insurance” It’s sick!
Thankfully it will be a thing of the past in 3-5 years.
Tescos and a few other shops (not lidl or aldi),have a bargain bin section where they have to sell off meat or fish or fruit veg Etc cheaply cos that particular day is its use by date…. The veg Etc will keep for a few days and the meat/fish can be used that day or frozen ASAP when u get home…. It’s all still perfect but legally they have to sell it off that day or bin it once it approaches the use by…. It’s a cheaper way to get perfectly good food.
Tesco and Dunnes normally reduce it two days before the best before great for expensive cuts of meat have gotten fillet steak for €2 in Dunnes ;)
Use your debit card wherever possible instead of a credit card. That way you can keep track of what you are spending easier and you can only spend what you can afford. It saves on interest charges on your credit card and surcharges if you are booking online because some websites charge a higher surcharge for using a credit card rather than a debit card.
Yeah – but then you get hit with bank charges for the use of the debit card.
Maybe spend on the credit card and download an app for logging your expenses. Then pay off your credit card in full every month.
You don’t get charged per use of the card, and if you’ve paid it off in full every month, you don’t get charged interest either.
Live out of your freezer for a month
Tried that – was too cold, so we moved back into the house.
€500 p.a. LPT saved.
Tell the Revenue that your Local Property Tax is a “loan”.
You will get it back when the law is repealed.
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$300 p.a. Bin charges saved.
“Give up your ol’ bins”.
Use black bag compressor at your local petrol station for €6/bag.
or find a bin partner with an exemption!
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€700 p.a. Car Tax saved.
Only €56 p.a. for classic car tax.
Plenty classic cars available in UK because they dont have the daft Irish car tax system. Donedeal ads.
“141 and 142″ are not green jersey anyway … €1.5 billion sent out of our economy every year .. jobs, jobs!
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€500 saved in oil fill.
Fit a solid fuel stove.
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€2500 p.a. saved in no smokes.
No smokes … it wont kill you but will kill the taxman.
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€250 p.a. parking charges …
Shop out of town. Free parking.
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I always buy Patricks marching season shoes in the sales but I’ve saved on washing powder for the fleg so it balances out in the end
Use a clothes airing rack instead of a tumble drier. One tip to improve cash flow to have a few extra bob for Xmas is to pay the mortgage over 11 months instead of 12. It might save high fees on credit cards.
Emigrate.
This article is 13 days too late.The journal editorial staff could do with a bit of downsizing based on its performance.I suppose they may have decided to reduce the days in January we can apply these savings to be ironic,which is ironic really.
22 red thumbs….the ass licking brigade are out in force today.Sheep…..bbaaaaaa!!!!!!!1
If your breasts are too big try wearing a knapsack. It might not save you any money but at least you won’t fall over.
Or get another job. .
Don’t throw out those old Corn Flake boxes. Fill them with toilet paper and Sellotape them together to make an excellent mattress. Or use empty Flora containers as galoshes for the kids. Save money on cold Winter nights by unplugging the freezer and leaving the contents outside on the doorstep.
And finally, my wife and I saved €20 last Saturday by jogging behind a taxi to our favourite restaurant!
i save on pricey toilet paper by using an old flannel cloth and just give it to my wife to stick in the wash every now and again.
Here is my tip. Most coupon queens or kings are extreme couponers. Yes, you need much time and effort to clip and stack coupons. If saving a lot money, it’s worthwhile. Yet, many turns out to be time-consuming without getting valid coupons. With tons of coupons sites online, I found some of the best like HalfDiscount, HotUKDeals, VoucherCodes.
I despise cheap people they simply have no class
have your say