TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has offered support for Northern projects like upgrades to the A5 and said he “hopes” the Northern Ireland Assembly can be restored after today’s local elections.
Voters in the North are headed to the polls today for the first local council elections since 2019.
More than 800 candidates are battling it out for the 462 seats that are up for grabs across the 11 councils.
While the local councils are still up and running despite the impasse at Stormont, the restoration of the executive has been a key theme in the run-up to today’s election.
There has been no functioning government in Stormont since last year when the DUP withdrew in protest over the post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Speaking to reporters following a Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik yesterday, Varadkar said “I’d hope so” when asked if Stormont can be restored following today’s local elections.
He said that he will be speaking to British prime minister Rishi Sunak on the issue and added: “Potentially there is a window of opportunity between now and the summer break.”
Varadkar also said that he “wants to encourage the five major parties to come together to form an Executive, but also to help out”.
He said: “I’ve been asked many times, can we make contributions to important infrastructure projects, like for example, the A5?
“Are there things we can do to the Shared Island fund? And the answer is yes’.
“We want to work with the British Government and help the five parties to make a success of the Executive if it comes together again.
“While the Good Friday Agreement has brought us peace in our island, for too long we’ve had devolved government (in the North) on and off and it hasn’t really delivered for the people of Northern Ireland and that has to change.”
Last week, Finance Minister Michael McGrath also offered support for upgrades to the A5, saying that the Irish government “won’t be found wanting” in its financial contributions.
McGrath was responding to a question from Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty, who said 47 people have died on the road since the project was approved in 2007, including three members of the same family in a collision last month.
Speaking during Leaders’ Questions last week, McGrath said this was a “stark statistic” as he acknowledged the project was about road safety as well as economic development.
He said: “That most recent tragedy was absolutely awful and our deepest sympathies go to the family and the community concerned.
“Just to reiterate the support of the Irish Government for this project, which has been long delayed and has been in gestation for a long number of years.”
Pearse Doherty said: “It was recognised at the time that this project was needed to unlock the economic potential of the northwest region that remains deprived and risks falling further behind without action.”
Doherty said the dual carriageway upgrade would also save lives.
McGrath said the project is governed by the planning process of Northern Ireland and there have been very significant delays and legal challenges.
McGrath said the Irish Government has committed £75 million (€86.3m)once the project is approved, but said that remains uncertain.
He added that £25 million (€28.8m) had been approved in the current year if the project is approved.
McGrath acknowledged costs have changed, but said: “There is a willingness on the part of the Irish Government to re-examine this issue and see what more we can do to bring about fruition of this project.
“But we do need partners that we can sit down and negotiate with and have a discussion with in the form of the British Government and the Northern Ireland executive.”
Meanwhile, Varadkar yesterday said that it “wouldn’t really be helpful for me to berate any particular party”, in reference to the DUP collapsing the assembly.
“I think that could be counterproductive,” added Varadkar.
Varadkar also said that the Windsor Framework is “not going to be changed”.
The UK Government and EU unveiled the Windsor Framework earlier this year as a means of resolving trading difficulties between Northern Ireland and Britain, caused by the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.
But the DUP has said its political and trading concerns must be met before it returns to government.
“We have an agreement now, which is the Windsor framework,” Varadkar told reporters in Reykjavik.
“We have a revised agreement. That’s not going to be changed now, we’re pressing ahead with its implementation in good faith.
“There are a lot of problems and challenges that people are experiencing in Northern Ireland – a housing crisis, a cost of living crisis, a budget crisis and a health crisis, and the people of Northern Ireland need to have their elected politicians working on their behalf.”
Varadkar’s words echo those of British foreign secretary James Cleverly, who yesterday said the UK government will not renegotiate the deal.
Appearing before the UK House of Lords Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland Sub-Committee yesterday, Cleverly said: “The reason why I say no to renegotiation is because we got movement from the Commission that for many, many years the Commission told us was impossible.
“The idea that somehow there was a significantly or subtly better deal just over the horizon I think is wrong.”
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