Simon Coveney hopes change of prime minister in UK will lead to ‘new appetite for dialogue’ on NI protocol

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has expressed hope that a change in the UK’s prime minister will lead to a “new appetite for dialogue” to resolve issues involving the Northern Ireland protocol.

Mr Coveney was in Belfast on Thursday for meetings with political leaders to discuss the continuing deadlock at Stormont and “find ways to get the Assembly working again” following the DUP’s failure to elect a speaker as part of its ongoing protest over protocol concerns.

The Assembly will be recalled next Tuesday to discuss a motion tabled by the SDLP, it has emerged.

Fresh attempts will be made to elect a speaker and deputy speaker during summer recess, outgoing speaker Alex Maskey confirmed in correspondence sent to Assembly members on Thursday afternoon.

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If these are blocked, the motion on the cost-of-living crisis cannot go ahead.

Speaking to media ahead of meeting Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie in a city centre hotel on Thursday morning, Mr Coveney said he had no preference between former UK chancellor Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Liz Truss in the Conservative Party leadership contest, adding that the Irish Government would “respect” the Tories’ decision.

“We’ll work with whoever the new leader is, whoever the new prime minister is,” he said. “Of course, we hope that the new prime minister won’t pursue a strategy of breaking international law and breaking their word to Ireland and the EU.”

He said it was “no secret” that the relationship between the Irish and UK governments “had not been good in recent years ... That’s because the British government has decided to move away from partnership and co-operation, which in many ways has been the foundation of the success of the peace agreements, which will be 25 years old this year.

“And it’s a real worry for us, if I’m honest, that the British government over the last number of years has moved away from that partnership approach to try to make politics in Northern Ireland easier for people in terms of finding solutions and compromises on difficult issues.”

Taken aback

Having recently visited a number of European capitals, Mr Coveney told reporters that other countries were “taken aback” by the UK government’s approach in unilaterally over-riding parts of the post-Brexit trade deal, and “setting aside commitments made in an international treaty”.

“That is not the way to behave with your neighbours,” he added. “And I hope that with a change in prime minister we’ll see a new appetite for consultation, for dialogue, for negotiation to try and resolve these issues through partnership and negotiation rather than unilaterally breaching international law, which I think is going to cause an awful lot more problems than it will solve.

“The Irish Government wants to be part of solutions to fix these problems, not to create further stand-offs.”

The controversial protocol Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday and will go to the House of Lords in the autumn.

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has warned that the Bill needed to make “clear progress” before his party would consider a return to powersharing.

On Thursday, Mr Coveney confirmed that the DUP was the only one out of the North’s five main political parties he was not meeting, though he noted there were diary issues as Mr Donaldson was in London.

“I wouldn’t read too much into it. [Mr Donaldson] can’t be here,” he added.

“We want to talk to all parties, including the DUP. Different parties bring different concerns, in relation to not only the Northern Ireland protocol, but also other issues like legacy, language and culture, like the human rights Bill and so on.

“There’s a lot going on at the moment. Unfortunately there are a number of areas where the British government has decided to act unilaterally instead of in partnership with the Irish Government and with the parties in Northern Ireland. That’s something we’ve got to try to change.”