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LAST UPDATE | 4 Jun 2021
DUP LEADER EDWIN Poots has said a meeting with Taoiseach Micheal Martin about tensions surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol was “positive, frank and useful”.
Poots made his first visit to Government Buildings in Dublin since becoming party leader after warning that relations between Northern Ireland and the Republic had “never been as bad”.
But following the meeting with the Taoiseach, Poots struck a more conciliatory tone and said that he would lead a team to the next north-south ministerial meeting on 18 June.
“North-south relations have never been as bad, I don’t blame the current Taoiseach for that, I blame the last Taoiseach,” Poots told reporters last night.
He added however that he would “lead the DUP team” at the next north-south ministerial meeting.
I believe that there are important issues that we need to discuss and deal with. On the basis that there is going to be a serious attempt to assist in dealing with the protocol I believe that we should be seeking to help normalise relationships once again.
In a statement issued after the meeting, the Taoiseach said the two party leaders had “an open exchange of views across a number of issues”.
These include political developments, Covid-19, North-South cooperation and the NI Protocol.
“The Taoiseach highlighted the critical importance of the stability and good functioning of the NI Executive and all the Institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, in these challenging times,” the statement said.
“Recognising and understanding the genuine concerns in unionist and loyalist communities around the Protocol, the Taoiseach said the focus needs to be on getting issues resolved and on reducing friction where we can.”
Micheál Martin / Twitter
Micheál Martin / Twitter / Twitter
The statement said Poots and Martin discussed the importance of “practical North-South cooperation continuing” and they agreed to remain in touch in the coming period.
Last month, Poots described his relationship with the Dublin Government as “really, really bad”.
He said he has respect for Micheál Martin but was critical of his predecessor and Coveney.
Ahead of the meeting, Poots said he hoped to “fix” the relationship which he claims was “damaged by the last Irish government” headed up by now Tánaiste, then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.
He accused Varadkar and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney of using historic issues to “taxi drive forward” the agenda that ultimately resulted in the Northern Ireland protocol.
“Northern Ireland cannot be a plaything of the European Union or indeed the southern government. Northern Ireland people are more important than that,” he added.
We cannot have a situation where some of the lowest paid workers anywhere in the European Union are going to have their food costs driven up, where people who require medication cannot get that medication.
A spokesperson for the Tánaiste said that “North-South relations are about more than relations with any one political party”.
“Relations are strained because of Brexit and its knock-on effects which continue to play out. Minister Coveney and the Tanaiste were against Brexit as were the majority of people, parties and politicians in Northern Ireland. We are doing our best to minimise the damage to Ireland, North and South. We will not be distracted from that work.”
Poots said there is “a lot of anger over the protocol”. He claimed that the actions of Varadkar and Coveney “hurt people in Northern Ireland”.
Varadkar and Coveney are responsible for interruptions to food and medicine in Northern Ireland, he claimed, irrespective of whether that was the intention.
“They have to reflect on that and rectify that,” he said.
Ahead of the meeting, Poots was asked if he expected a cordial meeting with the Taoiseach. He said he had “come to actually do business with people”.
He added he wanted “good” relations across the border, and wanted to work with people who want to achieve that also.
Earlier today, he said he had not refused to attend any North-South meetings.
Sinn Fein and the SDLP are seeking legal advice over the non-attendance of DUP ministers at recent North-South Ministerial Council sectoral meetings.
- With reporting by Press Association
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Is it me or do we have a situation in many countries now where its like how low can the political class go these days…..or is it a case we are all just seeing it more clearly now cos doesnt seem like Ireland or England have any political parties capable of running a bath without doing something stupid or being caught out
@Tom Newell: No shame or modesty in any of them.
@Tom Newell: I think the UK and US have been showing the world that the way to get ahead in politics is to lie like a rug and tell everyone what they want to hear, stoke prejudices and hate then rise on a tide of the unthinking.
There was an Austrian who did something similar a while back, he caused a bit of bother.
@Tom Newell: mainly it’s a result of politicians slowly realising just how susceptible humans are to propaganda. Get enough media outlets onside, spend enough on targeted social media ads and bot farms, and you can pretty much get away with anything. This allows con-artists, shameless liars and assorted dummies to flourish eg Trump and Boris. They surround themselves with other like-minded souls, and you wind up with the modern Conservative party, for example.
@Steve O’Hara-Smith: There was a country also in the Middle East that lied about UNRWA which the U.S and the UK we’re only to happy to believe without the slightest bit of evidence been put forward, I’m proud of the fact that Ireland didn’t fall for these blatant propaganda lies.
@Tom Newell:
It’s the people who vote them in. Society has to take the blame too. Any muppet can run these days and get elected.
@Steve O’Hara-Smith: you would be accused of sensationalism by some but unfortunately it is frightening how true this may actually be
@Tom Newell: It seems to be a right-wing political disease, more so that anyone else.
Although no group is immune.
I’ll bet you a €1000 they didn’t bet on winning the election!!!
Labour set to gain the biggest amount of seats in UK history. What has the UK shifting leftwards?
@9QRixo8H: there isn’t another genuine alternative?.
@Ger Whelan:
Agreed, a lot of people vote against someone, rather than voting for the opposition.
Lesser of two evils as such, especially in a 2 party system like the UK and the US.
@Ger Whelan: there are a myriad of genuine alternatives. The people just simple support Labour.
@9QRixo8H: is there? Other than The conservatives and labour please name one party that is running enough candidates to be able to form a government on their own?.
Insider trading is par for the course in the political elite. So they didn’t think it was something they could be caught for.
I don’t think any politican cares about the people its all about themselves and money
We dont have to look very far in our own backyard to find how thick and ignorant the electorate can be.A certain family in Kerry and that shyster down in Tipperary can do no wrong apparently.A bit like Trump supporters, simple folk.
@carol mullen:
I don’t live in either area but it’s obvious that they get things done for locals. I wouldn’t call them thick or ignorant…they are voting for people who are getting things done in the areas…e.g roads,hospitals etc..they are nothing like trump supporters
@carol mullen: I hear that family raises the best politicians that money can buy.
The big question is did he bet on the correct date?
Has admitted to putting a flutter on the date of the election. Always trying to select words to trivialise their own dishonesty. He could also have said used insider knowledge to gamble on an election they know they will lose to enrich himself.
Recent polls show the Tories and LibDems pretty much neck-and-neck for 2nd/3rd place, with each getting around 50+ seats in parliament.
Another poll – but this should be considered an outlier – shows Farrage’s group becoming the 2nd largest party in parliament, and therefore the official opposition.
But polls, as we have seen, have not been particularly reliable in recent times.
Like, Ballydole inside information
How do you bury damaging news in the news cycle when almost everything your government does is inept or unethical. What do you try to distract with?
If someone is dumb enough to offer that bet, then why is this a problem?
@Thesaltyurchin: Exactly. And if a person who knew the election date was dumb enough NOT to put a bet on……….!
@Thesaltyurchin: it’s the same as a player picking up a yellow card after he’s backed it. It’s called ethics.
@marklars81: Not really tho, that situation is one of individual merit, so ‘a player’ decides 1) if they get a yellow and 2) when that is. Whereas this situation the outcome is not controlled by the individual? Unless the data officer decides when the English go to vote. Seems really stupid that someone would accept that bet, in a way they sort of deserve to loose.
The toxic social and media environment would put any honest person getting into politics.
Re alleged knife attack in Phoenix Park today: Bring on judge marty No…, with his special advisor, judge o’donnell from Limk & we’ll have the perpetrators out in no time. Nothing can go wrong.
Tories won’t be winning that’s for certain.
Any significant amount of money placed on ridiculous bets such as that for big returns which would be correct would immediately get flagged for investigation before paying out. Who bets to win big on rubbish like that?
@Dan The Man: Gamblers.
Whilst betting on the election date is unethical, inappropriate and unseemly, it is hardly a hanging offence!
Is the rise of the “believe anything” brigade linked to the development of social media? Seems like we’re all being manipulated to think lies are the truth….
I reckon it was just a lucky guess!
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