Brexit is a priority issue for this Government, and the Taoiseach, my cabinet colleagues and I have taken every opportunity to engage with EU partners and the UK to advance Ireland’s priorities.
I, as well as officials from my Department, remain in ongoing contact with representatives from EU Member States, the Commission and Task Force, and the UK.
Monthly meetings of the General Affairs Council (Article 50) are an opportunity for me to bring Ireland’s interests and concerns directly to both my EU counterparts, and to the Commission Task Force. I attended the GAC (Article 50) on 20 July and 18 September. On both occasions, I met separately with Michel Barnier and I also met briefly with a range of EU colleagues. In addition, in August I attended the German Ambassadors’ Conference in Berlin and held a meeting with my German opposite number, Heiko Maas. On 4-5 September, I travelled to Estonia, Lithuania and Finland where I met with my Estonian, Lithuanian and Finnish counterparts. I was in Warsaw yesterday for meetings with the Polish Foreign Minister and European Affairs Minister.
In all my meetings, I am struck by the solidarity and unity of our EU partners with Ireland on the issue of the backstop, and I am grateful for their continued public and private expressions of support.
On the UK side, in July, I met with the then recently appointed UK Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union, Dominic Raab, in London to discuss the current state of play in the negotiations, and in particular the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland. I also met briefly with Jeremy Hunt, following his appointment as UK Foreign Secretary, in August, in Vienna, and with David Lidington, the UK Minister of the Cabinet Office, in September, in Dublin. In these meetings, I emphasised that it was the responsibility of the UK to put forward viable and workable proposals for the backstop, and encouraged the UK to engage constructively on the issue.
In September, I also met Keir Starmer, Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, during his visit to Dublin.