Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their questions. Deputy Martin asked about direct rule. The Tánaiste and I have discussed this with our counterparts. We have been very straight in saying that we cannot support a return to direct rule. We have had no indications from the UK Government that this is what it intends to do but we have given our view, straight up, that we could not support this and were it attempted, we would consider it to be contrary to the Good Friday Agreement. Deputy McDonald has met the British Prime Minister on a number of occasions and, as she said, Mrs. May understands this, and I do not believe it is her intention.

We stand ready to assist the DUP and Sinn Féin to come together to form an Executive. It is complicated, which is the reality, by the ongoing uncertainty around Brexit, by the local authority elections on 2 May and the EU Parliament elections on 23 May, and by the added complication of the Conservative Party's confidence and supply agreement with the DUP, making the party dependent on the DUP's votes to continue in government. This is an unprecedented situation but it does not stop us from endeavouring to support the two parties in putting together an Executive and intervening in whatever way we can that would be effective. Deputies will be aware that there have been many interventions already.

The Prime Minister plans to carry out talks with other parties, especially the Labour Party, with a view to coming to an agreement on the joint political declaration. The Prime Minister accepts that the withdrawal agreement is not being reopened. If Mrs. May can come to an agreement on changes to the joint political declaration, a fourth meaningful vote will be put before the House of Commons prior to the European Parliament elections. There is a desire on the part of the British Government not to hold the EU elections, which it believes would be farcical given that the UK is due to leave the EU. If it is not possible to come to an agreement with the Labour Party that gives the government an enduring majority - it is not enough to win the meaningful vote, as the government also has to be able to get a majority for all of the enabling legislation thereafter - there will be a further round of indicative votes in the House of Commons, which the government has agreed to be bound by. There is a fair bit of time throughout May, June and going into the summer recess for all of that to be done in the House of Commons. Having time is different to being able to find a majority, which is obviously a real difficulty for them at the moment.

Deputy Howlin quoted a DUP figure who was not named. I am not sure who it was. I can tell the Deputy that my engagements with the leader of the DUP, Mrs. Arlene Foster, have been regular and while we do not see eye to eye on everything, they have often been very friendly. Most recently they have been in touch with me on the issue of voisinage, asking that we resolve it, which we did. They contacted me thereafter to thank us for having the issue resolved. Even beyond Brexit we co-operate on other issues and will continue to do so.

The Deputy will also be aware that Sir Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP attended my party's conference recently. Lines of communication are very much open - politician to politician and adviser to adviser. We do not see eye to eye on fundamental matters and there is no point in pretending otherwise. Apart from keeping lines of communication with the DUP open, part of the strategy is to recognise that there is more to unionism than the DUP. This is why I made a particular effort some time ago, with the support of others, to encourage someone from a unionist background to run for the Seanad, who was subsequently elected.

It is the reason we have had an engagement with the UUP and the reason I have had an ongoing engagement with what is described as civic unionism, which is non-party unionism. It is also the reason I made a point of visiting Schomberg House, the Orange Order headquarters in Belfast, becoming the first Taoiseach to do so. I have met the Orange Order since then in Government Buildings. There are many strands of unionism. I suppose if there is a strategy, it is to recognise that.

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