Displaying items by tag: Simon Coveney

Ireland’s foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has warned Boris Johnson against any move to change the Northern Ireland protocol. He said, ‘What we can’t do is accept that the British government would act unilaterally, they would pass legislation to effectively breach international law, to set aside elements of a treaty that this prime minister designed and put in place. That would cause more problems than it would solve.’  Foreign minister Liz Truss, announcing a new law to change the post-Brexit trade deal for Northern Ireland, insisted it would be legal under international law. She said the proposed legislation would make changes to the deal - rather than scrapping it - to resolve ‘the grave situation in Northern Ireland’. But in response, the EU said it would ‘need to respond with all measures at its disposal’ if the UK went ahead with the legislation. Pray that all decisions will be according to God’s plans.

Simon Coveney, Tánaiste (Irish deputy leader), has said that through the Brexit negotiations Ireland wished to see the creation of the closest possible future connection between the EU and the UK. He said, ‘A key strategic objective is to ensure that the outcome of Brexit does not undermine the hard-won gains of the peace process, as exemplified by the Good Friday Agreement. Despite the efforts of both governments in recent months, and especially in recent weeks, it is deeply regrettable that there is at present no power-sharing executive in place. However, we will not give up - we cannot give up. We urgently need to see the restoration of the Northern Ireland executive and assembly, to harness greater and broader input into how to make the best of Brexit.’