Irish Leaders Try to Avoid Election
Irish Leaders Try to Avoid Election
LONDON (AP) -- Ireland's governing party and main opposition are holding last-minute talks to avoid the government collapsing just as it faces a crunch time in Brexit negotiations.
Irish lawmakers are due to vote on a no-confidence motion targeting the deputy prime minister filed by opposition party Fianna Fail.
Fianna Fail wants Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's deputy, Frances Fitzgerald, ousted over her involvement in a long-running police scandal.
Varadkar's Fine Gael party is backing Fitzgerald, but if his minority government loses the vote, Ireland faces a snap election.
Varadkar and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin are due to hold talks Tuesday.
A key EU summit looms Dec. 14-15, and Ireland is pressing Britain to spell out how it can keep the Ireland-Northern Ireland border free of customs posts and other barriers after Brexit.
(KA)
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