Taoiseach: Invoking Article 16 will have ‘far-reaching implications’ for UK-Irish relations

Mr Martin said he had spoken with Joe Biden at Cop26, who told him 'how the Good Friday Agreement matters very deeply to his administration' and that this position had been made “unequivocally clear” to London

Taoiseach Micheál Martin speaking during the Cop26 summit in Glasgow. Picture: PA

A decision to trigger Article 16 would have “far reaching implications” for the UK Government’s relationships with Ireland and the EU, the Taoiseach has warned.

Micheál Martin said the trade agreement between the UK and the EU was conditional on the Northern Ireland protocol of the Brexit deal being implemented.