Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Coveney tells politicians to make the call themselves
IRISH Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has said that people in Northern Ireland want their local politicians to be making decisions at Stormont.
He said: “Parties here in Northern Ireland need to make decisions for themselves in the context of, hopefully, the election of a speaker this week so that an Assembly can function.
“Obviously we need to work towards finding a way towards an Executive being set up to function as well. I think people in Northern Ireland want Northern Ireland politicians making decisions on their behalf.
“We are here to support that. We have had really positive and direct and blunt conversations this morning with Sinn Fein, with the UUP, with Alliance, we are meeting the SDLP. I spoke to Jeffrey Donaldson in the last few days.
“The Irish Government wants to be a constructive part of what is a difficult process to get devolved Government up and running and to get the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement functioning again.”
COMMUNITY
He added: “The conversations have been constructive, particularly with the UUP.
“I recognise that many in the unionist community have serious reservations in relation to the protocol and its...consequences for trade with Great Britain.
“We are in the space of trying to address those concerns where possible but also being honest about the parameters within which we have to try and address those concerns.”
Minister Coveney has said threats from the UK Government to override elements of the Northern Ireland Protocol “have gone down really badly” with the EU.
Speaking during a visit to Belfast, hesaid: “We don’t believe that the way forward in terms of solving outstanding issues can be done unilaterally by either side.
“The way to solve outstanding issues in relation to Brexit and the protocol and Northern Ireland is through partnership, through compromise and through working these issues out together.”