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

I strongly refute the accusation that the eye was taken off the ball. The British-Irish relationship in recent years has been strong and positive and has allowed us to find a way forward on some complicated issues linked to Brexit in the context of the negotiations that took place. These resulted in a sensible, pragmatic and legally sound way of dealing with the complication of the Border question in the context of an insurance mechanism that became known as the backstop and of an Irish protocol, to which the British Government signed up fully as part of the withdrawal agreement, protecting the common travel area. The follow-up bilateral discussions about that common travel area in terms of legislation that will need to be passed in Westminster and in the Dáil are testament to how close the relationship is between Britain and Ireland. This is despite the fact that the British Parliament has not yet ratified the agreements to which its own government signed up a number of months ago and the fact that, unfortunately, the need for the reassurance mechanism that it is for so many people has not been the focus of the debate on the backstop in Westminster. Instead, it has been painted as something that it is not. This is unfortunate but not a reflection of the relationships between the two governments.

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