Ireland’s deputy PM welcomes warmer relations as Keir Starmer arrives for official visit – but cautions UK cannot ‘cherrypick’ issues
The UK cannot have an “à la carte” reset of the Brexit agreement, Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said, just hours before Keir Starmer headed to Dublin for his first official visit to Ireland.
The tánaiste said the EU wanted an improved EU-UK relationship but that the UK could not “cherrypick”.
Continue reading...Ireland’s taoiseach says party should honour mandate of people of Northern Ireland ahead of election deadline
Ireland’s taoiseach has called on the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) to “honour” the mandate of the people of Northern Ireland by contributing to the restoration of the Stormont institutions as the election deadline looms.
Micheál Martin said it does not appear that devolved government at Stormont will be restored by Friday’s deadline. He added that it is “not satisfactory” that the powersharing institutions are not functioning.
Continue reading...Northern Ireland minister says he and colleagues had not always respected others’ ‘legitimate interests’
Steve Baker – arch Brexiter and one of the Conservative party’s fiercest campaigners to get the UK out of the EU – has apologised to Ireland and Brussels for the way he and some of his colleagues behaved over the past six years.
Baker told the Tory party conference that he and others in the party had not shown respect to the “legitimate interests” of Ireland or the EU during the campaign to leave the bloc.
Continue reading...‘Humans are social and we Irish more than most,’ Micheál Martin tells country after ending 20 months of social restrictions
Ireland has ended what has been one of the longest and strictest set of coronavirus restrictions in Europe, with the end of lockdown declared “a good day” by the country’s prime minister.
In a televised address to the nation the taoiseach, Micheál Martin, announced that the “the majority of public health measures” would be swept away from 6am on Saturday after the cabinet concluded they were no longer justifiable.
Continue reading...Micheál Martin calls for resolution on Northern Ireland, saying: ‘don’t leave it until Christmas Eve this year’
The Irish prime minister, Micheál Martin, has said the UK and EU need to “knuckle down” and resolve the dispute over Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit arrangements.
The UK’s Brexit minister, Lord Frost, will hold further talks with the European Commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, on Friday, with the UK still warning it could unilaterally suspend parts of the Northern Ireland deal unless major changes are made.
Continue reading...Common travel area with Britain will not be restored due to concerns over India variant
Ireland will adopt the European Union’s Covid-19 certificate to help citizens move more freely across the bloc and allow the resumption of international travel from mid-July.
The country’s government said it will broadly apply the same approach to arrivals from elsewhere including Britain and the US.
Continue reading...U-turns, infighting and vaccine blunders cast sense of disarray over Dublin’s pandemic response
When Ireland’s taoiseach, Micheál Martin, gave his latest Covid-19 address earlier this week there was none of the poetry or literary allusions that have peppered previous speeches.
Sensing the nation was fed up and in no mood for high-brow quotes, Martin appealed for patience on what he termed the final stretch of a terrible journey. “A lot has been asked of everyone … it has been, and continues to be, exceptionally difficult.”
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