Global Courant
LONDON
The British and Irish governments agreed on Monday that the re-establishment of Parliament in Northern Ireland is “critical” to the country’s stability.
British Foreign Secretary for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris and Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin met at the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in London, according to the British government’s statement.
They were joined by the UK’s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Steve Baker, and the Irish Minister of Justice, Helen McEntee.
Officials discussed bilateral and regional issues, including political stability and security cooperation in Northern Ireland.
“The UK and Irish Governments agreed on the critical importance of the full functioning of the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Executive and the North-South Ministerial Council,” the statement said.
Since the elections in May 2022, Irish nationalists and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) have failed to reach an agreement to form a new Administrator in Belfast.
Sinn Fein, which won the most seats in a historic result, nominated its leader and vice president, Michelle O’Neill, as first minister. Still, the DUP refused to appoint an MP, deepening Northern Ireland’s political stalemate.
“The Conference discussed the impact of the Windsor Framework on Executive formation and agreed that this lays a solid foundation for progress in Northern Ireland,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the two sides agreed that the Windsor Framework provides “certainty and stability” for the people of Northern Ireland.
The framework officially replaced the Northern Ireland protocol in March. It now seeks to keep Northern Ireland within EU trade rules while reducing control of some goods passing through the Irish Sea.
The British and Irish sides agreed to meet again this fall, the statement said.
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