Northern Ireland Secretary Conor Burns thanked them for their support in the House of Commons on Thursday. He revealed he had spent the summer north and south of the border in dozens of meetings with parties and citizens’ representatives to try to break the double deadlock over the Northern Ireland protocol and power-sharing, which the DUP has been boycotting since May. “I want to put on record, Mr Speaker, in the House today, my thanks to former Taiu leader Bertie Ahern and former Prime Minister Tony Blair for their help with the work I did over the summer,” he said. Ahern and Blair continue to show a strong interest in Northern Ireland and are determined to ensure the fragile peace deal does not collapse before the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement on Good Friday next Easter. The former prime minister will meet European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič in Brussels on Thursday night on the sidelines of a roundtable discussion on Northern Ireland involving MEPs and representatives from all parties, including Sinn Féin and the DUP. Some have suggested that Ahern should be appointed a special envoy to try to resolve the dispute over the protocol, with warnings that history will not forgive Irish or British leaders if the peace deal collapses. Talks between the UK and the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol have been stalled since February when Russia invaded Ukraine with already tense relations further deteriorating in June when Liz Truss introduced a bill to allow the UK Kingdom to unilaterally remove part of Northern Ireland’s Brexit protocol. . Despite the risk of a retaliatory trade war if the bill becomes law, Burns believes there is room for a deal. Earlier this week, he advised Truss that there was an appetite to return to the talks and have “another path” in the negotiations. Hopes for a recovery in UK-EU relations have also been fueled by the absence of Lord Frost from the new Truss cabinet. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Burns said at home that he had met Cefcovich at the British Irish Association conference in Oxford at the weekend, where he had “constructive and prolonged conversations”. “I am convinced that if the appetite is there, we can find a way to a negotiated solution on the Northern Ireland protocol,” he told MPs.
