The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has ruled out an early general election.

Mr Varadkar told a Cabinet meeting earlier that he will not go to the polls before Christmas.

He had been under pressure from some ministers to collapse the Government after British MPs in the UK backed a vote on December 12th.

British opposition parties agreed to support the move after the EU granted the UK a Brexit extension until the end of January.

The country could still leave the EU at an earlier date if the UK parliament passes the Brexit deal.

Some within Fine Gael said there will not be a better time – with a Brexit deal agreed in principle and the latest opinion poll putting the party eight points clear of Fianna Fáil.

However, three of the last seven polls have had Micheál Martin's party ahead – and on Tuesday, finance spokesman Michael McGrath warned the Government that forcing a pre-Christmas election would be a “serious and potentially very costly mistake.”

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Varadkar ruled out a 2019 election.

"I can confirm that I will be going to the Áras on Monday to formally appoint new judges of the Court of Appeal, also to sign with the Chief Justice the most up-to-date version of Bunreacht na hÉireann and also to have an Article 28 meeting with the President.

"However contrary to speculation, I will not be asking for a dissolution of the Dáil - now is certainly not the right time for the country, in my view, with the ongoing uncertainty about what's going to happen with Brexit.

"We know that there's going to be a UK election on the 12th of December, however we do not know what the outcome of that election will be, and what that will mean for Brexit.

"So we could find ourselves in a difficult period between the 12th of December and the 31st of January not knowing if the Brexit agreement will be ratified, not knowing if the new government may seek renegotiation - potentially even facing into the risk of a no-deal Brexit on the 31st of January.

"And I don't think it'd be in the country's interest for us to be spending potentially weeks and months trying to put together a new government at such a crucial time."

"I don't think the country needs a caretaker government during that period: it needs this Government to stay in office and continue to do the work that we've done to secure an orderly Brexit, prepare for no-deal if that were to occur and also ensure that Ireland's interests are defended".

One minister told Newstalk that May 2020 remains his preferred date for the next election.

Britain’s election will be dominated by Brexit – with Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking voters to support the revised Brexit withdrawal agreement, and UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn arguing for any deal to be put to a referendum.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have said they would cancel Brexit if they won - while the Brexit Party would push through no-deal.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) will use the election to build support for Scottish independence.

With reporting from Sean Defoe and Jack Quann