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

The relationship between the DUP and the British Government is a matter for both parties. There is a confidence and supply arrangement and we have nothing to do with it. Nevertheless, issues relating to Brexit, all the issues in the Good Friday Agreement and any issues relating to the absence of devolved government in Northern Ireland at the moment are a matter for all the political parties there. We engage with all parties, on Brexit and on trying to find a way forward, and we have done so throughout this process. I accept that there has been growing frustration with the political inertia in Northern Ireland. We have to be honest with ourselves and admit that the cloud that is Brexit hangs over all our relationships at the moment and has made it more difficult to get a focus on the re-establishment of devolved institutions in recent months. Ironically, the opposite should be the case because Northern Ireland needs a unified voice from an all-party Executive right now in the context of Brexit. It would be beneficial for Northern Ireland and for all involved if that were the case because the views, the concerns and the fears, some of them legitimate, of one party alone cannot determine an approach to finding credible and acceptable compromises and solutions on the Brexit questions.

I gave the House a detailed explanation of what happened last February when we almost had an agreement on the basis of setting up the Executive again before it unravelled. It is the job of the two Governments, Irish and British, to put in place structures and a context that will allow the parties to work again in an atmosphere of trust, resulting in the Executive being re-established. We share the sense of urgency felt by others in this House about the need to do this.

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