Simon Harris and Hilary Benn have ‘warm and engaging’ conversation

By Cate McCurry, PA

The Tánaiste has said he had a “warm and engaging” conversation with Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn.

On his first full day as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris said the pair discussed repealing and replacing the contentious Legacy Act as well as the commitments under the newly formed Government.

Mr Harris, who was taoiseach from April last year until Micheál Martin took over the role on Thursday, said he extended an invite to Mr Benn to Dublin.

“This morning I had a very warm and engaging conversation with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn,” Mr Harris said in a statement.

“The role of our two Governments as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement could not be more important.

“This morning’s call was an opportunity to reiterate our full commitment to work tirelessly together to fulfil that shared responsibility.

“The relationship between our two governments is in a better place than it has been for many years following the reset that I undertook as taoiseach in conjunction with Prime Minister Starmer. Northern Ireland remains at the heart of that relationship.

“We discussed the ongoing work towards repealing and replacing the UK Legacy Act, and I set out the commitments in the new Programme for Government, including playing our full part in legacy processes with the shared aim of ensuring a victim-centred approach that respects the voice of families.”

Mr Harris added: “I also briefed the Secretary of State on the commitments in the Programme for Government in further investing in the Shared Island initiative and we agreed that there was great scope to co-operate closely in this work.

“I invited Hilary Benn to Dublin and I look forward to hosting him here at the earliest opportunity.”

Mr Benn last visited Dublin in early December when he met former tanaiste Mr Martin at the British-Irish intergovernmental conference.

Mr Harris took over the role of Tanaiste after Mr Martin’s nomination as Taoiseach on Thursday.

The Dáil voted 95 to 76 in support of the nomination of Mr Martin.

The nomination was originally supposed to have taken place on Wednesday but a dispute over speaking rights for independents affiliated with the Government coalition led to the Dail being adjourned.

The Dáil reconvened at 11.40am on Thursday to proceed with the nomination of a taoiseach after extensive negotiations resulted in agreement that parliamentary rules needed to be reviewed.

After receiving Dáil approval, Mr Martin and his family met President Michael D Higgins at his official residence at Aras an Uachtarain, where he formally became Taoiseach during a short ceremony.