Johnson and Davis resignations 'matters for Theresa May'

The resignation of two British cabinet ministers are matters for the Prime Minster Theresa May, a spokesperson for the Taoiseach has said.

The spokesperson made the comments following Boris Johnson's resignation as UK Foreign Secretary.

His departure came within hours of Brexit Secretary David Davis quitting his post.

The senior ministers follows Mrs May's announcement of an agreement over the UK government's latest Brexit plan at Chequers.

While the Irish government welcomed Friday's agreement, they said "a lot of work" remains, "particularly from the British side".

"We welcome the fact that the British cabinet agreed collectively on detailed proposals for the future relationship between the European Union (EU) and Britain on Friday. And we look forward to seeing greater detail in the UK's White Paper later this week," the spokesperson said.

"There's still a lot of work to do, particularly from the British side. Time is running out.

"The commitments the UK has already signed up to must be translated into the Withdrawal Agreement and we need to intensify efforts on all outstanding issues, especially the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland."

Earlier on Monday, Ireland's Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said that the focus of the Irish government is on Mrs May's engagement with the EU and dismissed suggestions that Mr Davis' exit from the cabinet will throw the Prime Minister's latest plan into disarray.

"The fact there may be contrarian voices in the UK is nothing new, we have been listening to them all along," he said.

"We are getting a white paper published in the coming days, the signals are that the direction of travel is significantly better."

Fianna Fail's Brexit spokesperson Lisa Chambers said the double resignation was of "grave concern" but urged the British Government to continue with its plan to publish the white paper this week.

"It is imperative that these resignations do not completely derail the strategy agreed on Friday in Chequers, the detail of which is due to be elaborated on in the white paper," the TD said.

"The October deadline for agreeing a withdrawal agreement is fast approaching and the issue of the border remains unresolved."