Taoiseach to meet NI parties in Belfast
The meeting comes as the deadline to restore Stormont rapidly approaches
The Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, will hold separate meetings with Stormont’s main political parties today (Monday) as the deadline to restore power-sharing rapidly approaches.
Current legislation says that unless an Executive is restored by October 28, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris must call Assembly elections - something he has said he is prepared to do.
The DUP is blocking the functioning of the power sharing institutions as part of its protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The post-Brexit treaty has created barriers on the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The UK Government has vowed to secure changes to the mechanism either by way of a negotiated compromise with the EU or through proposed domestic legislation that would empower ministers to scrap the arrangements without the approval of Brussels.
Speaking ahead of his meeting with Mr Martin DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said the debris of the Protocol must be "cleared away" if the Stormont institutions are to return.
Sir Jeffrey said: "We must lay solid foundations if we are to move forward.
"We need to clear away the debris of the protocol years.
"We need to restore cross-community consensus.
"No unionist MLAs support the protocol. Therefore, it must be replaced by arrangements that unionists can support.
"This is essential if the political institutions are to function and succeed."
The DUP leader also called on Brussels to "loosen the guide ropes" for its negotiating team so problems with the protocol can be discussed and resolved.
He added: "The protocol continues to bedevil us, with businesses and consumers reporting further problems each week.
"A 25% tariff on steel, driving up transport costs by almost 30%, and uncertainty over medicine and veterinary supplies.
"The checks, however, on the Irish Sea border are but a symptom of the problem.
"They are the product of Northern Ireland being subject to a different set of laws imposed upon us by a foreign entity without any say or vote by any locally-elected representative.
"If we can secure a better way forward, then there is a great prize of stable devolved government, but without decisive action in Dublin and Brussels then the protocol will continue to erode the foundations of Stormont.
"Devolution requires the support of unionists as well as nationalists if it is to function and succeed."
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