The UK’s Foreign Secretary Borris Johnson and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney held a joint press conference this morning at the Iveagh House.

The pair have been meeting to discuss a pressing matter between the two countries: Brexit.

Britain’s decision to leave the EU has created quite a confusing situation for everyone involved. The current main concerns are the UK’s exit bill, the fate of Northern Ireland, and the rights of EU citizens living in Britain.

Particularly the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland has held the focus of the conversation. An open border will be vital. Mr Johnson was asked how this might work and said the British government’s view “is you can only really crack the problem” in the second phase of the talks.”

Conversely, Mr Coveney said, “The parameters [of how a post-Brexit border might work] need to be clearer and more credible before we go on to phase two.”

Anyone in attendance at the press conference could see that there is still tension surrounding this issue. The two seemed to have difficulty agreeing on how best to proceed. Boris Johnson is confident Brexit negotiations can be dealt with swiftly. Simon Coveney would rather take the time and do it right.

While these two were meeting in Dublin, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and UK Prime Minister Theresa May met during an EU Summit in Sweden. Varadkar emphasized “the importance of upholding all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement including the power-sharing institutions, and will continue to urge the Northern Ireland parties to reach an agreement.”

It was quite an honour to photograph this event. We hope all gets smoothed out with Brexit.

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