Leo Varadkar has insisted any personal concerns over his safety will not deter him from visiting Northern Ireland.
Mr Varadkar, who became Taoiseach for a second time last week, has become deeply unpopular within some sections of unionism and loyalism who claim he was an instrumental figure in the creation of Brexit’s contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.
The Fine Gael leader said he aims to travel to Northern Ireland in the early new year as he signalled that resolving the impasse over the protocol is his priority.
