Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

During his recent visit to Ireland, Congressman Richard Neal strongly endorsed the Irish position on the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol, which is to be greatly welcomed. Indeed, other US politicians have done the same, including the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and President Joe Biden. They have spoken about the difficulty of agreeing a UK-EU trade deal if the UK threatens the Good Friday Agreement and overrides the Northern Ireland protocol. We need to be vigilant in this regard and to continue to present our case on these matters on Capitol Hill, as no doubt the UK is presenting its view to US politicians at this time.

The Taoiseach has also spoken about resetting the relationship between Ireland and Britain, with a new Prime Minister expected to be in place by September. That is a very diplomatic way of putting it. Can we at least hope that the new British Prime Minister will adopt an intelligent and sensible approach to EU matters, the Good Friday Agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol, and that he or she will restore trust and respect international law? I do not expect the Taoiseach to answer that question but, hopefully, he will get off to a very good start with the new British Prime Minister. I would welcome his views on that and on resetting the relationship.

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