Irish PM says Brexit undermines Good Friday Agreement

Brexit has undermined the Good Friday Agreement which ended thirty years of violence in Northern Ireland, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Saturday.

"Brexit has undermined the Good Friday Agreement and is fraying the relationship between Britain and Ireland," he told Irish state broadcaster RTE.

The border between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit has been one of the major sticking points in Britain's negotiations to leave the European Union in March next year.

"Anything that pulls the communities apart in Northern Ireland undermines the Good Friday Agreement, and anything that pulls Britain and Ireland apart undermines that relationship," Varadkar added. 

Ties between Britain and Ireland have been tested over the last two years with Ireland a key player on the opposite side of the Brexit negotiating table to Britain. Arguments over how to manage the the border between EU-member state Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland have threatened the talks.

Britain and Ireland are co-guarantors of the 1998 peace deal that ended 30 years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland and introduced devolved government. 

However the power-sharing executive has not met for almost two years following a breakdown between Irish nationalist and pro-British unionist politicians.