“Now it’s time to get to work,” Rishi Sunak said after the meeting.
London:
British and Irish Prime Ministers Rishi Sunak and Leo Varadkar, of Indian origin, met on Monday to oversee Northern Ireland’s historic power-sharing deal, which saw the first devolved government in two years.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Leo Varadkar met at the Houses of Parliament at Stormont Castle in Belfast and praised efforts to restore devolution in Northern Ireland.
They also met separately with political leaders, including First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengery, who leads the devolved region’s executive. Mr Pengelly is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
“Now it’s time to get to work,” Rishi Sunak said after the meeting.
“We have worked very hard and successfully defended Northern Ireland’s place within the Union, building on what we have achieved under the Windsor Framework and ensuring that trade facilitation in the UK and all that we gain as a result of Brexit “We have secured the profits of the company. It will be seized,” he said.
Southampton-born Rishi Sunak has roots in Punjab, while Dublin-born Leo Varadkar has family roots in Maharashtra.
In a reading of the historic meeting between Anglo-Indian and Irish-Indian leaders, Downing Street hears Rishi Sunak congratulate the Irish rugby team on their stunning victory over France in Friday’s Six Nations contest He said he started by doing so.
“It has been a difficult time, but patience has proven to be the key to the agreement. Now that the institutions are back up and running, he hopes all three elements are working equally well. “The sense of relief and optimism shown by the people of Northern Ireland was so impressive and made it all worth it,” a Downing Street statement said.
The two leaders agreed that a “stable, effective and successful” Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom and shares a border with Ireland, would greatly benefit British-Irish relations.
The UK government has already promised Stormont’s new bosses a financial package worth £3.3bn, which Rishi Sunak has described as “generous and fair”.
The restoration of power-sharing came after months of negotiations involving the Northern Ireland Government and the DUP. Britain withdrew from power-sharing in February 2022 in protest of the post-Brexit Northern Ireland trade deal agreed between the UK and the European Union.
Last week, DUP leader Sir Geoffrey Donaldson announced that an agreement had been reached with Number 10 which meant there would be no “routine” checks on goods crossing from the UK into Northern Ireland. On this basis, he said his party would return to power if Westminster passes legislation to implement further reforms.
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar wrote on the visitor list at Parliament House in Belfast: “It’s great to be here on such an important day for Northern Ireland and to see devolved democracy and the Good Friday Agreement working again.” I’m happy,” he wrote. The Good Friday Agreement, signed in 1998 by then British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Arne with support from then US President Bill Clinton, ended the 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. put an end to it.
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