NI Protocol: Efforts needed to avoid Stormont election - Coveney

The DUP will not meet Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney due to diary commitments

All efforts must be made to find an alternative to holding a fresh Stormont assembly election, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has said.

He was speaking after meeting four of the five largest parties in Belfast on Wednesday.

NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said he will fulfil a legal obligation to call a new poll on 28 October if an executive is not formed.

Mr Coveney commented that "timelines are never easy in Northern Ireland".

The political stalemate centres around the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) blocking the functioning of Northern Ireland's executive and assembly.

The DUP has protested against the Northern Ireland Protocol, a part of the Brexit deal which ensures free trade can continue across the Irish land border post-Brexit.

This has led to additional checks on some goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, prompting concern from unionist politicians.

Mr Coveney repeated that a deal on the protocol between the UK and EU by 28 October was "not realistic".

However, he has said the mood music has changed.

'Put issues to bed'

"We are looking for a breakthrough on some of these issues in the next few weeks so that we can have the basis for a step forward on some of the contentious issues before the end of October," Mr Coveney said.

"In doing so provide the momentum and encouragement for the one party not willing to re-enter the executive for now, it is worth taking that jump."

He added: "It is time to agree common ground so we can put issues to bed."

The UK and EU held technical talks about the protocol on Thursday via video link in a bid to make progress.

The Irish foreign minister added he will also be meeting parties in Northern Ireland again next week and that the next fortnight represented "the best chance" of making significant progress.

The DUP has said it was unable to meet Mr Coveney on Wednesday because of diary commitments.

We're now on the countdown towards that much talked about deadline for restoring devolution at Stormont - 28 October is only 16 days away, so you can expect to see much more of this type of thing.

The DUP says there's a diary clash but it's not the first time this has happened when Simon Coveney has come north in the recent past.

The party will meet Taoiseach Micheál Martin when he comes to Belfast early next week and you can take their reason at face value or you can look under the surface.

There is no doubt the DUP have been very critical of Mr Coveney in the last few years and they have much better relations with Mr Martin. But whether that's anything to do with it, we do not know.

Under current rules, if devolution is not restored by 28 October, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris is obliged to set a date for a fresh Stormont election.

• NI Protocol row 'will not be solved by poll deadline'

• 'Mood music' changed in protocol talks - Coveney

He has rejected suggestions the government would delay the deadline if talks on the protocol have not made progress by then and said he would "push the button" on an election, if required.

'Stretch the elastic of public trust'

On Tuesday, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said "the clock was ticking" on restoring the institutions.

She said she was worried Northern Ireland would be "entering the void" unless the DUP ended its protest and returned to an executive in the next 16 days.

The cost of another assembly election, she said, was "morally questionable", but added that the secretary of state would be left with no alternative.

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said another election would be unhelpful.

He said it would merely "drive the parties back into the trenches".

"It will also likely mean the UK and EU stepping back from the negotiations once again, an election doesn't make any sense."

SDLP MLA Matthew O'Toole said another election would "stretch the elastic of public trust" and that it should not be the outworking of no restoration of Stormont by 28 October.

"We shouldn't be talking about an election," he said.

Sinn Féin's Conor Murphy and Michelle O'Neill met Simon Coveney in Belfast

Sinn Féin Vice-President Michelle O'Neill said she hoped a negotiated outcome on the protocol could be agreed soon.

She added that another election would be "unhelpful" but said if it was called,"That's the rules" and called on the DUP to reform an executive.

Asked if she condemned the singing of a pro-IRA song by the Ireland's women football team, she said she had not seen the video but noted that the FAI had issued a statement apologising.

Mr Coveney also said he welcomed the apology.

"There was a mistake made that shouldn't have happened," he added.

What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?

The protocol, part of the UK government's Brexit deal to leave the European Union, keeps Northern Ireland aligned with the EU's single market to ensure free trade can continue across the Irish land border.

However, unionist politicians have protested against the protocol for resulting in additional checks being placed on some goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The DUP has blocked the functioning of Northern Ireland's political institutions because it believes the protocol undermines Northern Ireland's position within the UK.

The party said it would not restore Stormont until protocol matters had been resolved.

In June, while Liz Truss held the position of foreign secretary, she introduced legislation in Parliament that sought to give UK ministers powers to unilaterally scrap large parts of the deal.

In July, the EU announced legal action against the UK government over the legislation just days after it cleared the House of Commons.

It said overriding parts of the deal would break international law.