#micheal-martin

#micheal-martin

A further 89 Irish citizens and their dependents have been evacuated from Sudan, bringing the total Irish evacuees to 209, the Department of Foreign Affairs has said.The majority of Irish citizens evacuated by air in recent days have been carried on UK flights into Cyprus, the department said.The UK Government said a flight departed from Wadi Saeedna airfield late on Saturday night.

A further 89 Irish citizens and their dependents have been evacuated from Sudan, bringing the total Irish evacuees to 209, the Department of Foreign Affairs has said.The majority of Irish citizens evacuated by air in recent days have been carried on UK flights into Cyprus, the department said.The UK Government had said its final flight departed from Wadi Saeedna airfield late on Saturday night.

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin has described the approach of the UK Government to Northern Ireland's troubled past as somewhat inconsistent.He was speaking after a public inquiry was announced into the Omagh bomb at the same time as a Bill progresses through Parliament which would end new court processes pertaining to Troubles offences.

Stormont leaders must grasp the opportunity to restore devolution if a deal emerges from EU/UK talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol, Ireland's deputy premier has said.Micheal Martin said all the main parties, including the DUP, wanted to maintain one of the protocol's key elements Northern Ireland's access to the EU single market.

The onus is on Sinn Fein as well as the Irish and British governments to reflect on how victims of Northern Ireland's troubled past have been treated, the Irish foreign minister has said.Micheal Martin was responding to a call by Sinn Fein president Mary-Lou McDonald that the two governments should call an urgent summit on dealing with legacy issues.

Sinn Fein's leader said Ireland needed a general election, not a government rotation of taoiseach, as she led opposition criticism of Leo Varadkar's nomination.Mary Lou McDonald said the coalition could try to delay real change in the country, but said they could not halt it.As polls continue to show Sinn Fein as the most popular party, its party president launched a scathing criticism of the Government during the special Dail sitting to elect Mr Varadkar as taoiseach for a second time.

UK and EU negotiators must be given space to find a resolution to the Northern Ireland Protocol impasse, Ireland's deputy premier has said.Micheal Martin, who is also Ireland's foreign affairs minister, stressed that the UK Government and European Commission still had to overcome challenges if a deal was to be struck.

The idea of excluding party leaders from meetings over the Northern Ireland Protocol needs to be knocked on the head now, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has insisted.She was speaking after Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris defended a decision not to invite her this week to roundtable talks with Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, which also discussed the Stormont powersharing crisis.

Ireland's deputy premier has urged patience with the negotiations to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol dispute, insisting a mountain has to be climbed.Micheal Martin said the UK and EU negotiators still needed to overcome formidable challenges if they were to find an agreed solution to cutting red tape on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Irish premier Leo Varadkar has insisted any personal concerns over his safety will not deter him from visiting Northern Ireland.Mr Varadkar, who became Taoiseach for a second time last week, has become deeply unpopular within some sections of unionism and loyalism who claim he was an instrumental figure in the creation of Brexit's contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.