Varadkar says ‘certain degree of progress’ made in talks on Northern Ireland protocol

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said there has been “good engagement” between the European Commission and United Kingdom on the Northern Ireland protocol with progress made.

Mr Varadkar spoke with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday and was updated on the ongoing discussions that are aimed at resolving issues around the protocol.

Speaking after the call, Mr Varadkar said that “the teams are making a certain degree of progress. They are very keen to have the time and space to continue their work and have asked that there would be confidentiality around that, so that’s obviously something we are going to observe.”

He will visit Northern Ireland on Thursday and said it would provide him with the opportunity to listen to the different parties and get their perspectives.

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He will travel to Belfast for meetings with the leaders of all the main political parties, and with the Northern Ireland Brexit Business Working Group.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin said the Government would do everything it possibly could to see the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly re-established.

He said bringing the situation to a resolution would represent a positive start to 2023.

“It is clear trust is building between the EU and UK. Progress has been made on data sharing but both sides are conscious and aware of the challenge so I won’t comment in relation to prospects or a timeline at this stage,” Mr Martin said.

[ Progress made on resolving impasse over Northern Ireland protocol, Tánaiste says ]

European Commission chief negotiator Maros Sefcovic and British foreign secretary James Cleverly announced an agreement on Monday that would allow the EU access to real-time data on goods moving from Britain into Northern Ireland.

Considered a fundamental condition for giving Northern Ireland access to the single market, Britain’s failure to give the EU access to these IT systems has been an ongoing bone of contention between both sides.

It comes after political talks aimed at breaking the deadlock at Stormont went ahead without any nationalists after Sinn Féin was “excluded” from the meeting on Wednesday.

The leaders of the North’s five largest parties had been due to take part in a roundtable discussion with Mr Cleverly and Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.

[ Talks to break Stormont deadlock go ahead without any nationalists after ‘exclusion’ of Sinn Féin leader ]

However, shortly before the meeting was due to begin, Sinn Féin withdrew after it said the British government had informed it that its party leader, Mary Lou McDonald, had not been invited.

Speaking about this, Mr Varadkar said he hoped it was not a new precedent. He said Ms McDonald would be part of the Sinn Féin delegation during Thursday’s visit. “I hope this was a one-off and does not represent a change in policy.” He said it was for each party to decide who would be on their delegation if an invite has been extended.

Mr Martin described this as “unfortunate” but that he did not believe it would be an impediment to getting the main issues resolved.