Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We did have an exploratory meeting with the leaders of all the political parties a few weeks ago in Belfast. They outlined their positions and all said they wanted to get back into devolved government structures in Northern Ireland. There was, however, a fairly direct conversation about the expectations of different parties about what was required to do this. It is very difficult to create the platform or political environment for compromise where parties will accommodate each other's concerns while the Brexit cloud hangs over Northern Ireland. Political parties are focused very much on decisions being made in London, even though many of them are not represented there. I have regular conversations with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on assessing when is the right time to bring parties together. We cannot force the holding of those meetings and have another failure on our hands as that would be very damaging. The public has grown increasingly cynical about, and disillusioned with, the political system in Northern Ireland and we will all have to work hard to try to re-establish trust that Stormont can work and make the right decisions for people, regardless of from where they come and who they are. Unfortunately, Brexit has had a desperately polarising effect, not just on political parties but also on communities. The focus of discussion on Brexit is back on identity, constitutional issues, tribal debates and at the same time the tension in dealing with many of the legacy cases, reinforced, for example, by the Finucane family who continue to ask for a full public inquiry, in which we support them, and the decision on a prosecution in connection with the events of Bloody Sunday.

The position is similar with the inquest into Ballymurphy and the ongoing inquest into Kingsmill. This has created difficult political debates without an Assembly or Executive in Northern Ireland to give political leadership to help communities get through a difficult process when it comes to reconciliation. That is why I said earlier that Northern Ireland is in a rather fragile and difficult place and we need to be careful with the language we use and the decisions we make. However, if we can find a way of creating some certainty around the Brexit process - I hope this can happen in the coming days and weeks - then I believe there will be a window. This is because I believe all parties in Northern Ireland recognise the need for more localised leadership coming from Stormont. Certainly, we will work hard with the British Government to try to make that happen.