Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar left humiliated by the resignation of his deputy Frances Fitzgerald – but fresh election avoided

IRELAND’S outspoken premier was left humiliated today by the resignation of his deputy - but fresh Brexit chaos was diverted by the departure to the delight of Downing Street.

Embattled Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has likely diverted crisis elections that risked overshadowing the crucial EU Council showdown in mid-December by losing his deputy Frances Fitzgerald over a raging policing scandal.

Next month’s gathering of all EU leaders will decide if sufficient progress to kick start Brexit trade talks has been made over the Irish border problem.

The resignation comes just hours after Brussels signalled a climb down from Mr Varadkar’s hardline demands that Theresa May gives him a written solution to how the Irish border would work after Brexit or he would veto moving onto trade talks at the crunch summit.

The British Government were deeply worried the threat of an insurgent Sinn Fein at the ballot box was forcing Mr Varadkar's government to take the hardest possible line against Britain.

Ministers believed this fear of the political wing of the IRA prompted the newbie Irish PM's outspoken war of words on Theresa May.

Two weeks ago Mr Varadkar compared Mrs May to a cheating wife who wished for an “open relationship” with Brussels.

But today his minority Government in Dublin looks set to narrowly avoid a snap general election Ms Fitzgerald reportedly caved into massive pressure and resigned over her handling of information about the treatment of a whistleblower.

According to a number of reports the deputy premier told a cabinet meeting that she would stand down over the affair which threatened to bring down the fragile deal which kept the Fine Gael government in power for the last 18 months.

A no confidence motion in her was due to be launched in the Dail parliament on Tuesday night over her knowledge of an aggressive legal strategy against a respected police officer during a private inquiry in 2015.

Further pressure mounted on Mrs Fitzgerald on Monday night after a batch of new potentially incendiary emails were released linking her to the controversy.

Despite the fresh revelations, Mr Varadkar insisted to the hilt that she had his full support - raising further questions about his judgement.

Today former Foreign Secretary William Hague heaped pressure on the Dublin government to tone down their impossible Brexit demands of Northern Ireland staying in the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union after Brexit.

Lord Hague wrote: "It would be a mistake for anyone in Dublin to think that Theresa May’s dependence on the DUP is the main barrier to the huge concession they are seeking.

“Splintering the UK is asking too much of Conservatives and many others in Britain.

“It would be deeply damaging to Northern Ireland’s economy, given that it does four times as much trade with the rest of the UK as it does with the Republic."