US special envoy to the North: Joint UK-Irish effort needed

THE proposal by the Trump administration to abolish the position of US special envoy to Northern Ireland must be countered by both the Irish and British governments.

Secretary of state Rex Tillerson proposed the move on Monday in a letter to senator Bob Corker, chairman of the US senate committee on foreign relations.

There already is no nominee for American ambassador to Ireland, meaning there is no US diplomatic presence here now — that, also, must be addressed.