Irish PM visits Belfast ahead of Protocol talks

Mícheál Martin, Taoiseach (the Prime Minister of Ireland) is set to meet with will meet Northern Ireland’s political leaders during a visit to Belfast today.

He will visit Queen’s University in Belfast and speak at an event jointly hosted by the Northern Ireland chamber of commerce and industry and chambers Ireland on climate change, where first minister Paul Givan and deputy first minister Michelle will also be in attendance.

He has visited Northern Ireland multiple times since becoming taoiseach last summer.

However, this trip comes as the EU and the UK prepare for intensive talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Maros Šefčovič, the European Commission vice president, has said the EU will suggest “very far-reaching” new proposals, and that he hoped talks would resume before November.

The Protocol was implemented to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the wake of Brexit, and by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods.