Newly elected UK PM Boris Johnson said in a speech delivered last week in Manchester that unless the EU removes the Irish border backstop provision from the withdrawal agreement agreed to by his predecessor Theresa May, he will take the UK out of the EU without a deal on 31 October.

Removal of the backstop would be a terrible blow to the Island of Ireland and its tourism and agriculture industries.

EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker have since stated that removing the backstop is "unacceptable" but left open the possibility of discussions of the withdrawal agreement with Johnson.

Irish Taioseach Dr. Leo Varadkar said at a news conference in County Donegal, "without the backstop there is no withdrawal agreement...and there will be no free trade agreement..."

Will Johnson stay in office long enough to crash the UK out of the EU in October? Will he blink and drop his demand that the backstop be removed? Stay tuned.