Updated: 12.15pm
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he wants devolved government in Northern Ireland to last, adding the Irish Government will help in any way it can to make this Executive a success.
The Taoiseach was greeted by the North’s new First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly at Stormont Castle on Monday, and held a meeting before Mr Varadkar met with the rest of the newly-formed Executive.
Welcoming the Taoiseach to the Executive table, Ms Little-Pengelly said she looked forward to building a constructive relationship “based on mutual respect” with the Irish Government.
She added it “makes sense for us to have a constructive relationship – we haven’t always had in the past”.
Mr Varadkar said he was glad to be there on this “very positive day”, adding there were “various times over the past year or two I didn’t think this day would happen”.
“It’s great that the institutions are back up and running again. We want the Executive to be a success and to last, and are keen to help in any way we can but not to interfere, but definitely to help, and keen to see the North-South Ministerial Council up and running again as soon as possible, and the British Irish Council as well, of course,” he said.
“We’ll have the St Patrick’s Day visits, which I think will take on a much more positive feel, because in the US they’ll be keen to see the Good Friday Agreement institutions working, and the main thing is to try and keep the lines of communication open.”
UK prime minister Rishi Sunak is also in the North to mark the restoration of powersharing, telling Stormont’s leaders the “real work starts now”.
Mr Varadkar and Mr Sunak also met each other for a bilateral meeting at Parliament Buildings.
Mr Sunak then travelled the short distance to Stormont for a meeting with Ms O’Neill and Ms Little-Pengelly.
As the meeting got underway, Mr Sunak told the pair: “It has taken a lot of hard work and indeed courage to get us sitting round this table.
“Today isn’t the end; it’s the beginning, and the real work starts now.”
Mr Sunak and the UK’s Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, also held talks with Ms O’Neill and Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald.
The Sinn Féin leaders are understood to have voiced their objection to elements of the deal between the DUP and UK government which prompted the unionist party to return to Stormont, following concerns that the agreement adopted a pro-Union approach to issues such as a border poll and the development of an all-island economy.
Ms O’Neill and Ms McDonald are believed to have made it clear that the party intends to drive an all-island economy through the finance and economy portfolios it now holds in the new Executive.
They are also believed to have stressed the requirement for the UK government to remain impartial in relation to the calling of any future referendum on Northern Ireland’s constitutional future.
Earlier, Mr Heaton-Harris rejected claims by Stormont ministers that better funding is needed from the UK government as powersharing returns.
He insisted the £3.3 billion package offered by the UK government is “ample” for the Executive to “get on with the job”.
The newly-formed Executive has already written to Mr Sunak calling for urgent discussions on long-term funding stability to deliver public services.
Asked about claims that the current funding arrangement will not provide the basis for the Executive to deliver sustainable public services, Mr Heaton-Harris told BBC Breakfast: “I don’t believe that is the case. I think Stormont has fantastic, strong foundations now, and it will survive, it will be sustainable.”
He added: “There is a thing, I think, about choices. You’re going into politics, you have to make choices on these sorts of things.
It's great to be back in Northern Ireland - a special part of our United Kingdom.
After two years, it's clear how important the Assembly's return is to local people - giving them a say in issues that matter.
Now it's time to deliver a brighter future for Northern Ireland. pic.twitter.com/BEuh4B731C— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) February 4, 2024
“Those choices haven’t been made for a long time out here, and I believe the new set of ministers are completely capable of running their public finances perfectly well with the fair and generous funding package we’ve given them.
“There’s a £3.3 billion package available to ministers on day one here to get on with the job of sorting out Northern Ireland public sector pay, health services and a whole host of other things, and I’d say that’s ample for the time being.”
The new powersharing Executive will also hold its first meeting on Monday as it begins the task of trying to manage Northern Ireland’s strained finances.
