Boris Johnson told by Fianna Fáil's Lisa Chambers to ditch the 'ego'

Britain's likely next prime minister Boris Johnson has been warned he will not be able to win the Brexit stand-off by "sloganeering" and must put his "ego" to one side if he is to find a solution to the crisis.

Boris Johnson told by Fianna Fáil's Lisa Chambers to ditch the 'ego'

Britain's likely next prime minister Boris Johnson has been warned he will not be able to win the Brexit stand-off by "sloganeering" and must put his "ego" to one side if he is to find a solution to the crisis.

Fianna Fáil Brexit spokesperson Lisa Chambers issued the call for common sense on the eve of Mr Johnson's expected announcement as the Conservative party's new leader at 11am tomorrow.

Speaking at the MacGill summer school in the Glenties, Co Donegal, during a special day of talks on Brexit, Ms Chambers said the reality is the new British prime minister needs to leave his "fantasy world" and have a wake-up call.

Noting the current rhetoric in British politics, Ms Chambers said Mr Johnson's "kipper stunt" last week - where he waved around a dead fish during a debate to highlight EU rules, which were later revealed to be in fact British rules - "shows how politics has now become more about stunts than substance".

And, saying the issue poses serious risks to Brexit, which can only be resolved through sensible talks, she added that the only way Mr Johnson and his colleagues to achieve a breakdown is by ditching the "sloganeering" and trying to find viable solutions.

"The new prime minister will have to realise that he will have the weight of his country on his shoulders and he will not be able to solve the issue by sloganeering.

He should seize this opportunity to really lead, irrespective of commitments given during a leadership campaign... This should not be seen as spineless or considered a failure but rather for what it is - putting their egos last and their country first.

"Politics is about serving the people, don't allow pride to get in the way of that," she said.

Ms Chambers said while the June 2016 Brexit result must be "respected", she and other politicians are hoping for a "deep sense of reality" to dawn on Mr Johnson in the coming weeks.

Ms Chambers said a failure to do so and an ongoing push towards a hard border would be like "telling the people of Germany that we plan to rebuild the Berlin wall".

However, she admitted the intentions of Mr Johnson and other Brexiteers mean the situation does "not look good".

"We are all hoping for a deep sense of reality dawning when he takes office as prime minister. We care further hoping that if sense does not prevail with the new prime minister that the House of Commons can intervene and stop a hard Brexit.

"There is a lot of hoping on hope. However, the indications do not look good," she said.

Ms Chambers was speaking during a day-long focus on Brexit at the MacGill summer school today.

Among other speakers were senior research officer at the Economic and Social Research Institute, Dr Adele Bergin; former political secretary to ex-British prime minister Tony Blair, Pat McFadden MP; and Central Bank acting governor Sharon Donnery.

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