The Taoiseach is to hold talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the next few days as discussions between Dublin and London continue to intensify over the ongoing riots in Belfast.
Micheál Martin is to speak with Mr Starmer in the coming days to discuss the recent conflict. This comes after he had responded to remarks from Northern Ireland secretary, Hilary Benn, who claimed that Ireland had a lot to answer for, after it was revealed that the alleged suspect in Monday's knife attack in Belfast had entered the island via Dublin in 2023, prior to travelling to Belfast.
Following this, Mr Martin in response to Mr Benn's comments, said that he would be engaging with Downing Street, after being asked if focus should be renewed on the Common Travel Area.
According to reports in the Irish Independent, Mr Martin had firstly condemned the violence witnessed in Northern Ireland over the past two days as "unacceptable", before adding: “There can be no justification for the burning of people out of their homes. If one reads the individual accounts of families who’ve had to leave their homes in Belfast with young children, that is an experience we don’t want to see again in Northern Ireland".
The Taoiseach went on to state that this violence was damaging to both the city and the wider region.
“It doesn’t reflect well on Belfast and the vast, vast majority of law-abiding people in Belfast and in Northern Ireland", he said.
He insisted that both the Irish and British Governments will maintain close co-operation on issues including immigration and policing.
“The Common Travel Area is important,” he said, adding: “It’s a very important benefit to the citizens of Ireland and to the citizens of the United Kingdom".
Elsewhere, Mr Martin also insisted that close co-operation between An Garda Síochána and the PSNI remains vital in navigating a way through this conflict.
“The only sensible way to deal with this issue is strong co-operation between the United Kingdom government and the Irish government, and strong co-ordination between the key departments, sharing of data, and between our respective police forces on the island of Ireland", he said.
He also called out recent remarks on this issue from far right activist, Tommy Robinson and billionaire Elon Musk.
“I think it’s unacceptable, and they need to butt out, really", he said.
Last night saw a second night of violence along the streets of Belfast, with the police using water cannons to deter protesters, who threw bricks at them, as well as setting fire to wheelie bins from outside homes, and throwing other objects. More on this story from Nova here.
