Brexit: Simon Coveney plays down NI Protocol breakthrough prospects

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has played down the prospect of a breakthrough on the Northern Ireland Protocol in UK-EU talks next week.

He was speaking as he arrived in Belfast for talks with the Stormont parties.

Mr Coveney was asked about the next UK-EU joint committee meeting due to happen on Monday.

He said it was more likely to be a "staging post" for the two sides to issue a statement on progress so far.

The Irish foreign minister also told the media in Belfast on Thursday that the Irish and British governments are not "bystanders" in trying to resolve the latest political crisis at Stormont.

He is to have talks with four of the five main parties to discuss the political crisis, as well as negotiations over the protocol.

Mr Coveney said Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is travelling and would be unable to meet him in person on Thursday, but they would remain in contact.

The minister said officials in London, Dublin and Brussels were all actively involved in trying to find solutions to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

However, he added that it was up to the Stormont parties alone to return to government together and that he would continue to support them to reach a resolution.

Mr Coveney is also expected to meet civic society leaders in Armagh during his visit on Thursday.

The minister was involved in negotiations that helped lead to the signing of the New Decade New Approach agreement in January 2020, restoring Stormont's institutions after a three-year impasse.

The UK government has insisted it wants to reach a solution urgently, in light of the latest crisis at Stormont.

Its lead negotiator, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, met her EU counterpart on Friday for a further round of talks, but no breakthrough was reached.

Earlier, Mr Coveney said those involved in the negotiations are "putting in a lot of time" to make progress before the upcoming assembly elections on 5 May.

"Liz Truss and Maroš Šefčovič were the two key negotiators on each side but are very much supported by the Irish government and many others who want to try a way forward here," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday morning.

He described the decision of the DUP to withdraw Paul Givan as first minister as part of its ongoing opposition to the Irish Sea border as "very unfortunate".

The party has argued that unless the arrangements are changed, political institutions in Northern Ireland cannot continue as normal.

"We're trying to find a way of ensuring that the Northern Ireland Protocol, which is part of an international agreement that the UK government designed, helped to write and then ratified, can be implemented in a way that's acceptable for all sides, including unionists," Mr Coveney said.

"The Irish government is going to work closely with the British government and the EU to try to find a solution that everybody can live with."

A meeting of the Joint Committee, the formal body overseeing the protocol, will take place on Monday.

That will be the first such meeting of the committee in more than six months.

The EU's chief negotiator, Maroš Šefčovič, is understood to be holding virtual meetings with each of the main Stormont parties this week, ahead of next week's formal discussion.

Without a first and deputy first minister in place it is not yet clear who will attend on behalf of the Northern Ireland institutions, but it is likely that a senior civil servant could take part instead.