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Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney is in Belfast meeting with political leaders following last week’s Assembly elections.
Mr Coveney is meeting Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill at 9am, and has already had what sources described as a “long phone conversation” with Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson, who is in London.
Mr Coveney is also set to meet senior figures in the Alliance Party and Doug Beattie, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).
Talks will focus on restoring the institutions of the Belfast Agreement and getting an Assembly and Executive up and running following the election.
Former DUP leader Edwin Poots on Wednesday said you can have the Northern Ireland Protocol or the peace process but not both. He said the DUP could form a government but was not ready to do that until this issue was significantly dealt with.
We want a peace process but not one divided by nonsensical rules imposed by the EU to protect he single market, he told RTÉ’s morning Ireland .
Elsewhere, UK communities secretary Michael Gove has said the UK will continue to negotiate with the EU to resolve differences over the Northern Ireland Protocol but said “no option is off the table”.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has made clear her frustration at the lack of progress in talks with Brussels amid reports the UK could unilaterally abandon the protocol.
Asked on BBC Breakfast if the government was going to “tear up” the agreement, Mr Gove said: “No. We are going to negotiate with the EU in order to get the best possible outcome for the people of Northern Ireland, but no option is off the table.
“Liz Truss will be meeting Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice president, tomorrow. They have a good relationship. They will try to make progress tomorrow. I know that both of them are fully committed to making sure we resolve some very difficult issues that have arisen.
“You would expect a UK government when it is thinking about the security of the entire United Kingdom to say that there is no option that is off the table and that is absolutely right.”
Powersharing
Efforts to form a powersharing government in Stormont are deadlocked as Mr Donaldson said his party would not go back into the Executive until there was “decisive action” on the Northern Ireland protocol.
The Assembly is due to meet for the first time on Friday but, without a DUP nomination for Deputy First Minister, a new Executive cannot be formed.
With no immediate prospect of a resolution, the North is facing a long period of political stalemate which could last up to six months and, potentially, a fresh election.
The other Northern parties and the Irish, British and US governments have urged the DUP to nominate a Deputy First Minister who would share office with Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill as First Minister.–Additional reporting PA