Thread by @ronanduffy_

Boris Johnson is here at #PendulumSummit. He had a meet and greet with 'Diamond' ticketholders and has been kept away from media since. He's due speak about 'Opportunity in Uncertainty' about an hour.

Whose opportunity he's talking about remains to be seen.

You'd know he's here though, you wouldn't normally see this dispalyed proudly around Dublin

Síle Seoige is introducing Boris. She urges a laughing audience to 'drop their preconceptions'.

Boris is late. Seoige tells us it's because he's 'gone to the loo'.

More laughs

Johnson comes on stage to 'The Final Countown'. He says he will talk about Brexit, but not yet.

Instead, he's talking about Jaws. Seriously. He says the mayor of Amity Island was right to be sceptical about the shark, even though he turned out to be wrong.

He's using this as a way of saying that the media and others can exaggerate risks. So there #PendulumSummit

Boris says he took a similar, but less lethal, risk as Mayor of London by not giving the go-ahead for rain ponchos at London 2012. He says this paid off, and saved millions.

'People need to be educated about risk,' he adds.

Boris jokes that he's purposely waffling on in order 'eat up time' before being 'interrogated by someone from RTÉ'.

(He's going to chat with Dobbo after his speech)

He got a hearty laugh from the business-friendly audience btw, who seem very warm to him.

On to Brexit:

'Whatever you may think about the way we voted, the whole fear stuff is being used to keep us in the Custom Union/ Single Market. Which really makes a mockery of the whole idea of Brexit.'

Boris says Ire and UK are 'so alike in so many ways' and should work together to solve any issues Brexit may give rise to.

Boris turning on the charm by praising Ireland's rugby team. 'And we're not so bad ourselves,' he says of the English team.

He now really is rambling, talking about Star Wars being filmed in Kerry. Saying that the lightsaber was 'invented' in his constituency

Dobbo is now on stage. Or 'some guy called Brian' as Boris jokingly referred to him as

Johnson says the best outcome is a 'worked out Canada-style trade deal' #Brexit

Onto the border, Dobson puts some comments to Johnson that he was reported to have said in a private meeting.

Johnson says he sees this as a private meeting too. Thousands here in Convention Centre.

Dobson puts it to Johnson that he was 'giddy with excitement' with Theresa May's deal in December 2017 that included a backstop.

Johnson said he had ' serious concerns' even back then. He was Foreign Sec at the time #Brexit

Johnson says he believed the backstop was 'a convenient fiction that had to be indured'.

Says he had hoped to influence it in Cabinet but could not.