Brexit clarity could help restore Stormont before end of year: Varadkar

TALKS aimed at restoring power-sharing in Northern Ireland should be held in the autumn, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

The Stormont Executive collapsed 18 months ago and repeated rounds of negotiations have failed to restore it.

Mr Varadkar suggested the prospect of talks between the main parties in Belfast and the British and Irish governments depended on clear answers around the Brexit debate.

He said: “We would intend, in the autumn some time, trying again to get the parties in Northern Ireland together.”

He added: “I think the absence of any clarity around Brexit makes that very difficult but if we can have that in October, I think there is an opportunity, certainly before the end of the year, to get the Assembly and Executive up and running.”

Institutions at Stormont crashed in January 2017 amid a dispute about the Renewable Heat Incentive, the botched green energy scheme.

Last week Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley said the Government would “take the steps it needs to take” to ensure good governance in Northern Ireland. Yesterday a Government spokesperson said: “The Secretary of State and UK Government’s top priority remains the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland.

“She (Karen Bradley) will continue to work with all the Northern Ireland parties — and with the Irish government within the three-stranded approach — to remove the barriers to restoring the Executive and a fully-functioning Assembly.”

Last night Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said the governments must ensure a successful talks process.

“There is an onus on the governments not only to convene talks but to play a full role in ensuring those talks deliver for all,” she said.

“Last week the two govern

ments met under the auspices of the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference and that was to be welcomed. The two governments now need to flesh out their announcement of a talks process.

“They need to make clear their plan for a successful outcome and the steps they will take to ensure full implementation of outstanding agreements and the safeguarding of rights for citizens in the north.”