The European Affairs Minister says she believes the UK general election result means a Brexit deal may be passed in the House of Commons by the end of the year.

Helen McEntee said the Tory majority means there's more certainty about where things are going.

However, she refused to say whether she thinks the UK election results mean an early election here in Ireland is now more likely.

With all but one seat declared, the Tories have secured 364 seats in the House of Commons - a comfortable majority of 76.

Boris Johnson has now pledged to achieve Brexit by the deadline of 31st January - "no ifs, no buts, no maybes".

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Minister McEntee said there's now a clear way forward.

She observed: "What we wanted was a decisive election, and we certainly have gotten that.

"I think there's a clear indication that the House of Commons... will sit through Christmas - which essentially means that this piece of legislation... the ratification of the most recent Withdrawal Agreement will happen sometime before the end of this year."

She added: "I don't see there would be any issues with this passing through the European Parliament.

"I probably feel like a lot of Irish people: we have a decisive election result, it means we have certainty, we know the direction we're going, but it also means that Brexit is happening."

She also claimed "nothing has changed" with regards to a border poll after nationalists overtook unionists in Northern Ireland - suggesting "it's not the right time" to discuss that, adding that Brexit should be the focus.