Border poll: SDLP rejects any change to Irish unity referendum rules

Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris has been "relentless" in his efforts to restore devolved government, Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker has said.

Mr Baker, who works alongside the Northern Ireland secretary, made the remark at a meeting of British and Irish politicians in County Kildare.

The government's position in recent weeks is that talks with the DUP are in the "final stages".

Mr Baker said we would "urge all parties to return to power sharing".

The DUP, Northern Ireland's largest unionist party, walked out of government at Stormont 20 months ago in protest over post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland.

A new deal, the Windsor Framework, was agreed by the UK and EU in February but the DUP said it did not address all of its concerns.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson remains in talks with the UK government in a bid to secure further legislation, which he has said is aimed at securing Northern Ireland's place within the UK internal market.

He has insisted that he is not working to any deadline.

Addressing a meeting of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, Mr Baker said Northern Ireland "works best" when governed locally.

"The secretary of state's core priority is the restoration of the institutions and that is why he is relentless in his efforts to get Stormont back up and running so that the necessary decisions can be taken to improve public services... my goodness, every time I visit I see how necessary it is."

Irish Finance Minister Michael McGrath told the same event that both Dublin and London can "do better" in working to restore power sharing.

"The continued absence of a Northern Ireland executive and the consequent effect on north-south work, especially at ministerial level, is something I feel in my work every single week," he said.

"This is where, as politicians and as neighbours, we can do better.

"I, for one, look forward to the day when I can pick up the phone to my counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive in the same way that I can do with my counterparts in Great Britain, or indeed elsewhere in Europe."

Mr Baker added that he welcomed relations with the Irish government being on a "new footing", after years of friction during the initial Brexit negotiations.