The UK and Ireland have said that they will work closely to try to resolve the impasse over the Northern Ireland Protocol. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly met his Irish counterpart Simon Coveney in London on Thursday (October 6), both expressing a desire for close cooperation.
The first bilateral meeting between the UK and Ireland since Liz Truss became UK Prime Minister will be followed today (Friday) by the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, to be co-chaired by Mr Coveney and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.
While agreement on changes linked to the protocol remain to be negotiated, the UK, Ireland and the EU have made noticeable efforts in recent days to make progress. The protocol was agreed by the UK and EU as part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and sought to avoid a hard border with Ireland post-Brexit.
