Stormont stalemate: Irish PM calls for Plan B talks if autumn opportunity missed

Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar has said if an opportunity is missed to restore the Northern Ireland Executive in the autumn, talks about alternatives will be needed.

Earlier, Mr Varadkar met Stormont's political parties in Belfast 18 months on from the collapse of the executive.

It comes after he accused Westminster of a lack of co-operation.

There has been no devolved government since February 2022 when the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) withdrew.

Mr Varadkar was speaking on a visit to Northern Ireland's national football stadium, Windsor Park, where he met representatives of Linfield Football Club.

"I do think there is an opportunity to restore the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, the assembly and the executive in the autumn," he said.

"Certainly from the Irish government's point of view, we want to do everything that we can to assist that, whether it is political support or co-funding infrastructure projects or helping out in any way that we can.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meets officials at Windsor Park in Belfast

"We are very keen to do that and I said that to the party leaders today.

"I do think though that if that opportunity is missed, if it is the case that the institutions can't be re-established in the autumn well then I do think at that point we have to start having conversations about alternatives, about plan B.

"That's very much a conversation I am keen to have with the UK government."

Earlier, Mr Varadkar called for the UK and Irish governments to "work hand-in-glove and apply both pressure and support - in a co-ordinated way".

He said a closer partnership was crucial to restoring power sharing.

But Mr Varadkar told the Financial Times there had been a reluctance in Downing Street to "go down that route".

Relations between London and Dublin have improved since their post-Brexit slump.

Nevertheless, these comments show this is a work in progress.

The DUP has blocked the formation of an executive and assembly in protest at the post-Brexit trading rules for Northern Ireland.

After being the first party delegation to meet Mr Varadkar on Wednesday, Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill said she believed "public patience is wearing thin with the DUP".

"I have heard more urgency from the taoiseach today than I have heard from the British government in terms of the need to restore the executive," she added.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson speaking in Belfast after meeting Taoiseach Leo Varadkar

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he had a "very useful" conversation with the taoiseach on subjects of mutual interest and concern, including cross-border trade.

"Our focus at the moment is on resolving the major problems that were created by the Northern Ireland Protocol," he added.

"We continue to engage with the government, that engagement has intensified in recent weeks and I hope that within the next few weeks we will have a definitive response from the government and we will be able to put a proposition forward.

"The government knows that more needs to be done and we need to see that progress."

'Frank exchange'

Alliance leader Naomi Long said her party's delegation had a "very productive and frank exchange" with the taoiseach.

"It has been clear now for some time that whilst some kind of a deal that could restore devolution is not necessarily that far away, neither is it any closer than it appeared to be at any time frankly throughout the spring," she said.

"I remain very concerned that as time passes the crisis that faces our public services and our public finances is deepening."

Mrs Long said there was a "short window of opportunity" to resolve the situation and that it was "incumbent on the DUP to step up now and do the job they were elected to do".

Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said his conversation with Mr Varadkar was "nothing more than a neighbourly catch-up".

He said it was "all well and good the taoiseach saying that the UK government needs to talk to them more, I would argue that the UK government needs to talk to us more".

"I want to be involved, I want to add value, I want to fix the problems and the impasse that we are on now," he said.

The Social Democratic and Labour Party's Matthew O'Toole said the he had a useful engagement with the taoiseach.

Power sharing at Stormont has been in limbo for 18 months due to a boycott by the DUP

"For the past few decades, this place has only made progress whenever the British and Irish governments have been operating together in order to bring focus to delivery and making this place work," he added.

"It is clear that the Irish government want to do that and the taoiseach was clear about that today."

He said a resolution was needed quickly as "devolution could be moving past a point of no return".

Responding to Mr Varadkar's remarks, the Northern Ireland Office said the two governments had "long agreed to co-operation in line with the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, including through the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference".

"The UK government firmly believes that the three-stranded approach set out in the agreement offers the best route to securing the timely restoration of the NI institutions, and our commitment to it remains unchanged."

Mr Varadkar also held engagements with business leaders and met with representatives from the Gaelic Athletic Association.