![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/ni-protocol-uk-irish-relations-have-improved-significantly/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/127607085_eceb9fd71b7ddecd17ca21b14df2b495c59a7883.jpg&description=Image source, Cameron Smith, PAImage caption, Micheál Martin says there is a "window of opportunity" for a breakthrough on the protocol with Anglo-Irish relations "significantly improved"UK and Irish government relations have "improved significantly" in recent weeks, Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin has said.He made the comments at the end of the latest British-Irish Council.On Thursday, he met UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for the first time, with both leaders saying a "breakthrough" on the NI Protocol is possible.Mr Martin said there was a "window of opportunity" but declined to be drawn on how long negotiations could last.He said the decision to extend the deadline for forming a Stormont executive into 2023, and delaying the legal requirement for an assembly election had been helpful.Mr Sunak was the first prime minister to attend a meeting of the British-Irish Council, held this time in Blackpool, since 2007, and the first ever Conservative PM to take part.After his meeting with the taoiseach he was confident that "with goodwill and pragmatism" a breakthrough can happen on the protocol.Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney had previously criticised the approach of the UK government to the protocol during Boris Johnson and Liz Truss's premierships, saying it had badly fractured Anglo-Irish relations.Asked to sum up how he viewed the relationship now, Mr Martin said things had improved greatly."A week is a long time in politics, months can be an eternity," he added.He said that he did not "understate the difficulties" in reaching a deal that would have the support of all parties in Northern Ireland and that he appreciated the concerns expressed by the Democratic Unionist Party.Image caption, Micheál Martin (left) and Rishi Sunak met in Blackpool where the British-Irish Council summit is being heldThe DUP has blocked the formation of an executive and assembly in Northern Ireland in its protest against the protocol.The post-Brexit trading mechanism all){kind=link}
UK and Irish government relations have “improved significantly” in recent weeks, Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin has said.
He made the comments at the end of the latest British-Irish Council.
On Thursday, he met UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for the first time, with both leaders saying a “breakthrough” on the NI Protocol is possible.
Mr Martin said there was a “window of opportunity” but declined to be drawn on how long negotiations could last.
He said the decision to extend the deadline for forming a Stormont executive into 2023, and delaying the legal requirement for an assembly election had been helpful.