LAST UPDATE | 5 Sep 2022
TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has congratulated Liz Truss on her election as the new leader of the Conservative Party, who will become the new UK Prime Minister tomorrow.
The Taoiseach said that he was looking forward to working with Truss and that the two would need to work together on common issues, one of which is likely to be the ongoing issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Congratulations @trussliz on your election as Conservative party leader.
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) September 5, 2022
I look forward to working with you, as PM of our nearest neighbour, on important issues we face together, both bilaterally and globally.
Speaking to reporters in Cork, he said that the appointment of a new Prime Minister was an opportunity to reset relations with the UK.
“In the coming days, I see this as an opportunity to reset relationships between Great Britain and Ireland, post-Brexit and also between the European Union and the United Kingdom,” said Martin.
Martin said that he spoke with outgoing UK ministers over the weekend and that there was a consensus to “do everything we possibly can” to break the Northern Ireland Protocol deadlock between the UK and European Union.
“I think if we collectively put the people of Northern Ireland at the centre of our attention and focus, and work to bring about changes in the operation of the Protocol that would facilitate concerns that have been legitimately raised, then I think we could well be on the pathway to finding a resolution.”
Martin said that he believes a resolution can be reached on the Northern Ireland Protocol and hopes that negotiations can start between the EU and UK.
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney also hoped the election of Truss as Tory Party leader would lead to a resetting of Irish-UK relations.
“She is going to be the next prime minister, and we will work with her and her team, but I hope we can change the direction of travel for British-Irish relations that we’ve seen over the last couple of years, which really has been one of tension and standoff on very important issues – predominantly related to Northern Ireland,” Coveney said, speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
In Northern Ireland, there have been calls for Truss to work to restore both the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive, which has been paralysed for months with the DUP refusing to nominate a speaker or deputy First Minister.
Sinn Féin deputy leader and First Minister Designate Michelle O’Neill said that she has already written to Truss, calling for an urgent meeting with the incoming Prime Minister.
O’Neill said that Truss needed to focus on restoring power-sharing within Northern Ireland and to “stop pandering to the DUP”.
“Liz Truss has an opportunity to come in now and stop pandering to the DUP, stop pandering to the approach which is damaging to our ability to help people through the cost of living crisis,” said O’Neill on RTÉ’s News at One.
“What we need to see now is a change of tack, a change of policy, a change of approach.
“Even at this late stage Liz Truss has an opportunity when she comes in to her new post to actually work with the EU, work with the Irish government, find ways to reset relationships and find ways to make the protocol work because we all know there are solutions there, that are on the table.”
However, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has called for Truss to deal with the Protocol, saying that the current Northern Ireland Protocol bill would help “fully restore Northern Ireland’s place within the UK internal market”.
“We will be saying to the prime minister that is why action is needed, that is why we need to see this legislation going through Parliament, and if there is to be renewed negotiation with the EU, then the prime minister needs to be very clear that for the institutions to be restored, decisive action is required to remove the barriers of trade and to respect the integrity of the UK internal market,” said Donaldson.
The British-Irish Chamber of Commerce has also called for Truss to “reset” relations between Ireland and the UK.
“With businesses on both sides of the Irish Sea operating at time of great uncertainty and unprecedented challenges, the Chamber and its members now urge the incoming Prime Minister to seize the opportunity to reset UK-Irish relations and provide much needed clarity for business communities,” said Paul Lynam, the Director of Policy at the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce.
“We encourage both the Truss and her EU counterparts to return to the negotiating table over the coming weeks and engage constructively to find common ground and ultimately secure concrete solutions to aid businesses across these Islands.
Resignation
Priti Patel has quit as Home Secretary, following the election of Liz Truss as the new Conservative Party leader.
In her resignation letter to Boris Johnson, shared on social media, Ms Patel said it was her “choice” to continue her public service from the backbenches, when Ms Truss formally takes up her post as prime minister on Tuesday.
While she pledged her support for the new leader, she said it was “vital” that she continued to support the policies she had pursued to tackle illegal immigration – including the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda.
“It has been the honour of my life to serve as Home Secretary for the last three years,” she tweeted.
“I am proud of our work to back the police, reform our immigration system and protect our country.”
EU reaction
EU leaders have also reacted to the election of Truss as Tory Party leader, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying that she “looked forward to a constructive relationship”.
Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, who has lead the EU in negotiations with the UK over Brexit, said that a positive relationship with the UK is of “great strategic importance”.
“I stand ready to work intensively and constructively with my new UK interlocutor to foster such a partnership, in full respect of our agreements,” Sefcovic said.
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