Brexit: Mícheál Martin visits Belfast ahead of protocol talks

Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Mícheál Martin will meet Northern Ireland's political leaders during a visit to Belfast on Friday.

Mr Martin's visit comes as the EU and the UK prepare for intensive talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Šefčovič told an event in Dublin that he hoped talks would begin before the end of October.

He said his proposals would be "very far reaching" and that he hoped they would be seen as such.

Mr Martin has visited Northern Ireland several times since he became taoiseach in the summer of 2020.

He will speak at a business event jointly hosted by the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chambers Ireland exploring climate change, which First Minister Paul Givan and Deputy First Minister Michelle are also due to attend.

Mr Martin will also visit Queen's University in Belfast.

The Northern Ireland Protocol is a post-Brexit trade arrangement, which was agreed by the UK and the EU in order to avoid the reintroduction of a hard border on the island of Ireland.

It ensures there is no need for checks along the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and was agreed as a way to protect the Good Friday Agreement by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods.

Unionists have said the protocol diminishes their Britishness and damages trade with other parts of the UK by creating a border in the Irish Sea.

But he also did not rule out triggering Article 16 if the EU failed to come up with plans to deal with current issues.

Article 16 can be triggered by either the UK or EU to suspend elements of the Brexit deal on the condition that the protocol is causing "serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist, or to diversion of trade".

Brexit Minister Lord Frost has threatened to suspend parts of its deal with the EU if changes are not made.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has warned that his party may quit Stormont if its demands over the protocol are not met.

On Thursday, Sir Jeffrey said he was "pleased" that the EU was to table new proposals, adding that he believed pressure from unionists had "opened up the protocol".