Micheál Martin calls for all-island approach to climate change

First Minister Paul Givan and Deputy First Minister Michelle joined Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the climate event

Tackling climate change will need joined-up policies on the island of Ireland, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.

The Irish prime minister was speaking at an event in Belfast, where he is due to meet political leaders later.

Mr Martin's visit comes as the EU and the UK prepare for intensive talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic has said the EU will bring forward new proposals.

Mr Sefcovic told an event in Dublin that he hoped talks would begin before the end of October.

He said his proposals would be "very far reaching" and that he hoped they would be seen as such.

The taoiseach paid a visit to Women'sTec, which provides training for women in what are traditionally seen as men's jobs

He also dropped into the creche at Women'sTec in north Belfast

Mr Martin has visited Northern Ireland several times since he became taoiseach in the summer of 2020.

During Friday's visit, he was joined by Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers at an event hosted by the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Chambers Ireland exploring climate change.

He told business leaders, just weeks ahead of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, that offshore wind would be an area of big expansion in the years ahead.

"There is no more significant and common concern for us on this island, and across these islands, than meeting the generational challenge of climate change," he said.

"So, to be fully effective on climate action, we need joined-up policy approaches and co-ordinated investment on a cross-border basis."

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Speaking ahead of their separate meeting, Ms O'Neill said she wanted to talk to Mr Martin about the EU and the British government bringing forward solutions to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Martin will also visit Queen's University in Belfast.

What is the protocol?

The Northern Ireland Protocol is a post-Brexit trade arrangement, which was agreed by the UK and the EU in order to avoid the reintroduction of a hard border on the island of Ireland.

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It ensures there is no need for checks along the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and was agreed as a way to protect the Good Friday Agreement by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods.

Unionists have said the protocol diminishes their Britishness and damages trade with other parts of the UK by creating a border in the Irish Sea.

Last week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he believed the Northern Ireland Protocol could "in principle work" if it was "fixed".

But he also did not rule out triggering Article 16 if the EU failed to come up with plans to deal with current issues.

Article 16 can be triggered by either the UK or EU to suspend elements of the Brexit deal on the condition that the protocol is causing "serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist, or to diversion of trade".

Brexit Minister Lord Frost has threatened to suspend parts of its deal with the EU if changes are not made.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has warned that his party may quit Stormont if its demands over the protocol are not met.

Sir Jeffrey said he was "pleased" that the EU was to table new proposals, adding that he believed pressure from unionists had "opened up the protocol".

It is understood the EU will offer a bespoke agri-food arrangement for Northern Ireland to try and end the so-called "sausage wars" .

It would mean chilled meats could continue to go from GB to NI beyond the current grace period.

Brussels is expected to produce its proposals on the Northern Ireland protocol on Wednesday.