Simon Coveney has said he remains confident the European Union can agree a Northern Ireland protocol deal with the UK government under the new prime minister once the British engage in an honest dialogue.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs said he was encouraged by the signals from Liz Truss, as well as foreign secretary James Cleverly and Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, that the British government wants to negotiate a solution with the EU rather than continue with unilateral legislation.
Asked if he felt Ms Truss’s admission that a US-UK trade deal could be years away reduced US president Joe Biden’s leverage with the United Kingdom to do a protocol deal with the EU, Mr Coveney said that he wouldn’t view the issue in such pessimistic terms.
“The US always has leverage, both in terms of on Ireland and the UK and the EU – the US is a big player,” he said.
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“I met President Biden this week and I had a short and very positive conversation with him – he said very directly to me, he had spoken to prime minister Truss and had made it very clear to her that he does not want the peace accords in Northern Ireland, as he calls them, undermined in any way.”
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Speaking at the official opening of the new Port of Cork container terminal, Mr Coveney said Ireland had shown a willingness to compromise significantly. He said all sides should be cognisant of the fact that if there isn’t a functioning executive in place in Northern Ireland by October 28th, Mr Heaton-Harris will set a date for new elections to Stormont.
“The last thing we need now is a new election cycle in Northern Ireland that would lead to more division.”
Retired diplomat Bobby McDonagh, former Irish ambassador to the UK and former Irish permanent representative to the EU, said there was, right now, a sense of cautious optimism that efforts towards a solution could be progressed.
“A possibility of finding agreement is being allowed to run by both sides. And that I suppose it is progress because we haven’t had Liz Truss or her ministers saying in a gung-ho, tabloid sort of way that they’re going to pursue the Northern Ireland Bill. The Bill is still making its way (to the House of Commons) but I think the relative radar silence on both sides is good.
Mr McDonagh said it seemed to him the “mood music has changed” and the strident confrontational tone of the Boris Johnson era was not evident at this time
He pointed out that, as yet, Ms Truss has not declared her hand if there was to be a deal, and it would involve compromise on both sides, he said. Ms Truss could not dance to the tune of the European Research Group (ERG), comprising Tory MPs who have maintained an uncompromisingly hard line on Brexit. The ERG bloc supported Ms Truss in the Conservative Party leadership election.
Other sources said that while there is optimism, the talks at present are in a “holding pattern” and the British government has yet to make its position clear.
