The Taoiseach has said he believes the chances of progress in Northern Ireland are good, since Stormont resumed last week.
Speaking at Dublin Castle ahead of the Shared Island Forum, Leo Varadkar said: “I’ve had the privilege to serve in Government since 2011, so I’ve been present when institutions are working well together…engaging with the North South bodies. And I’ve also been there for two suspensions.
“And when they happen, they tend to go on for years. I think it’s always good to bear in mind, that if things don’t succeed, you can’t assume they’ll be back up and running six months later, it’s more likely to be two, three years later, but certainly meeting with the new First Minister, Deputy First Minister and the new executive members. I think there’s a lot of good faith there. We want to make it work to help do that, as best we can. Not by interfering but by assisting.”
Mr Varadkar said he hoped the Northern Ireland Assembly would remain up and running throughout the medium term when elections were taking place here and in the House of Commons.
Lessons have been learned, he said, and pointed to the new sustainability protocols.
“Maybe I’m an optimist. I just have the sense that there is a real genuine effort there. There is going to be genuine effort there on behalf of those sitting around the table in Stormont to try and make this work and focus on a lot of the very practical problems.”
Mr Varadkar said difficulties in the health service and public service pay disputes would be much easier to resolve with the institutions operating.
“Areas like North South cooperation in particular, really work best with institutions operating.”
Mr Varadkar said the Shared Island initiative was a huge help when the institutions were down as there was not much else happening.
“It is separate from the institutions of Stormont, but it allows us to leverage some of that cooperation.”
Asked about all-Ireland cooperation, particularly in relation to business, Mr Varadar said: “There’s a huge opportunity, I think for Northern Ireland to secure a lot of investment, a lot of jobs. They’re part of the market of the United Kingdom, have full access to the single market and there’s the all-island economy as well.”
“There’s absolutely no reason why Northern Ireland can’t be the most prosperous part of the United Kingdom…there a huge opportunity there for Northern Ireland to grow economically.”
Mr Varadkar said the new trading arrangements would bring certainty for businesses, that may have been lacking previously.
“What they didn’t have was certainty. And you know, if you’re a business, whether you’re a small business taking a 10-year loan, or whether you’re a big business making a 30-year investment, what they want to know is that there is some certainty and stability about what the business environment is and what the rules of the game are. And I think potentially what we can look forward to is a period when, no matter what else happens, the trading, trade and investment rules are now settled. Northern Ireland will have full access to the single market and will have unfettered access as well to the UK internal market in which they’re a part.”
Asked about his hopes for the North South Ministerial Council, Mr Varadkar said it was important that it should keep meeting. He said there had only been one in-person meeting of the NSMC since 2016, and that people needed to get used to it again.
“The most important thing in many ways is that they just have it that people meet each other and they meet their counterparts.”
On the long hoped-for A5 motorway, the Taoiseach said he did not know when it would be completed. But he said he had been told it could start construction this year.
He said it was “really important in terms of linking the Northwest better to Dublin, better to the island as a whole. It’s not just about Derry it’s also about Letterkenny and Donegal which doesn’t have motorway access, doesn’t have rail service. Really important for that county too”.
