Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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323. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the meetings or discussions he has had with leaders in Northern Ireland regarding the formation of the Assembly in advance of the UK general election. [24357/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Following the Assembly election, I spoke on 5 March with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and the Taoiseach spoke with Prime Minister May. Both Governments agreed on the need for intensive engagement to address outstanding issues and commitments to ensure the early establishment of an Executive. As co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, both Governments have a role to play in supporting the effective operation of the devolved institutions, and in upholding both the letter and the spirit of the Agreement as a whole, in the interests of all in Northern Ireland.

In this context I am representing the Government in the currently paused talks’ process in Belfast. The talks have two objectives. Firstly, to allow the political parties to reach an agreement on the formation of a new Executive. Secondly, to address the implementation of outstanding issues from previous Agreements.

Since the talks began in early March, good work has been done collectively by the five parties and there has been encouraging movement across a range of areas, but a number of key issues remain still to be resolved.

As part of my engagement with the Secretary of State and with each of the parties in the discussions in recent weeks, I have strongly emphasised the critical importance of forming a new Executive so that Northern Ireland’s interests can be effectively represented, as part of the process of the EU-UK negotiations which are about to commence. I very much hope that the necessary agreement between the parties will be reached on the formation of the Executive as soon as possible, so that it can directly articulate the interests of the people of Northern Ireland in these negotiations which are of major significance.

Following the announcement of the general election in the UK, I held further contacts with the parties in Northern Ireland. There was a widespread view that given the demands and constraints of the election campaign, the best course would be to pause the talks until after the general election takes place on 8 June. This pause was agreed on 27 April.

The new legislative deadline for forming the Executive is 29 June. There will therefore be a sufficient opportunity after June 8 for the talks to resume and for the parties, with the appropriate support and involvement of the two Governments, to re-engage on the urgent task of forming a new Executive and taking forward the implementation of outstanding commitments from previous Agreements.

I believe there is a shared determination on the part of all parties to renew their engagement on the key outstanding issues in these talks, once the UK general election has taken place. The Irish Government will continue, in cooperation with the British Government, to support and facilitate the parties in their efforts to reach agreement. It is critically important to see devolved Government restored and working effectively in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland, in particular in the context of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.