Taoiseach rejects claim that Irish government has not reached out to unionism

Micheál Martin said his government "have been speaking to unionism and" and DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson "knows that"

Virtual address via video link from Taoiseach Micheal Martin, TD to the 40th UCC Commerce Society Annual Business Conference- 'Adaptability and Reinvention in Modern Business' at the Hayfield Manor Hotel, Cork on Thursday 3rd February 2022.

The Taoiseach has rejected allegations that the Irish government has not reached out to unionism.

It was reported on Sunday that Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney had not contacted DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson "in months" after DUP First Minister Paul Givan resigned last week, effectively collapsing the Stormont Assembly.

It comes amid the party’s protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol and follows his DUP colleague Edwin Poots’s decision to order a halt to agri-food checks at Northern Ireland’s ports.

Micheál Martin said his government "have been speaking to unionism and Jeffrey knows that."

"I met with Jeffrey and all of the Unionist Party leaders as well as all the leaders of in Northern Ireland before Christmas.

"We spoke about the protocol issues, there's an open channel, Paul Givan and Jeffrey can ring me anytime, I can ring them and we do engage.

"We met with Maros Sefcovic, I met with him. He willingly went to Northern Ireland. He met with union leaders, he met with industry, business leaders, met with all of the parties. He came forward with very significant advances in terms of the commission's proposals.

"I would have spoken to Jeffrey before he came forward with those ideas and spoken afterwards and it was clear to us that he presented a significant recognition of the issues that unionism had raised in terms of the operation of the protocol, and trying to minimise the impact of the protocol in everyday life. business life and so on.

"It's not the European Union that has been dragging its feet in relation to negotiations and discussions on the protocol."

The European Union has been upfront and honourable, the Taoiseach added.

In the wake of the collapse of Stormont, earlier elections have been mooted, due to be held in May, but could be brought forward. The Taoiseach said that all parties should uphold the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement.

"The pulling down the executive or undermining the executive for short term electoral tactical purposes is not in my view acceptable.

"We've had the institutions operating, we've had them suspended on quite a number of occasions now, to such an extent that people in the North have lost faith and confidence in those institutions, which is, I think, a great pity.

"I think all politicians should say; whatever happens, the executive continues, the Assembly continues and fulfils its mandate."