Liz Truss meeting with Irish PM raises hopes Brexit talks with EU will resume
Hopes that talks between the UK and the EU will resume over a protracted dispute about the Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland have risen after a 45-minute meeting between Liz Truss and the Irish prime minister in Downing Street on Sunday morning.
The taoiseach, Micheál Martin, was one of five world leaders to have “leaders’ meetings” with the British prime minister before the Queen’s funeral on Monday, in what was seen by some as a mark of the UK’s determination to reset soured relations with its neighbour.
Martin offered condolences to the British people over the death of the monarch.
No statements were issued because of the official period of mourning, but it is understood both sides agreed there was an opportunity to reset the relationship between the UK and Ireland, fuelling hopes that talks with the EU will resume within weeks.
Negotiations between London and Brussels were paused in February because of the outbreak of war in Ukraine but have yet to be resumed, amid escalating opposition to the protocol among unionist parties in Northern Ireland.
It is thought Truss and Martin discussed the importance of the wider relations between the two countries and the importance of unity in the face of global challenges, including the energy crisis.
The meeting between the two leaders came just days after the Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, expressed “cautious optimism that we will see in a few weeks’ time the opening of an honest effort to try to settle some of these issues that have been outstanding for far too long”.
Both sides have said in the past fortnight that they are determined to find an agreed path for post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland, with the UK demanding the removal of physical checks on farm
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