{"id":436951,"date":"2026-05-07T13:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/436951\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T13:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:37:09","slug":"irish-premier-hears-opposing-views-on-ni-legacy-from-stormont-parties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/436951\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish premier hears opposing views on NI legacy from Stormont parties"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Irish premier has heard starkly opposing views on dealing with Northern Ireland\u2019s troubled past during meetings with Stormont parties.<\/p>\n

Taoiseach Micheal Martin is meeting with all of the main Northern Ireland political parties at Parliament Buildings in Stormont, Belfast.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach arrived at Parliament Buildings on Thursday morning, and was greeted at the door by Stormont Speaker Edwin Poots.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

During his first meeting, Sinn Fein president Mary-Lou McDonald said she told Mr Martin that the concerns of victims need to be addressed in the joint framework on legacy between the UK and Irish Governments.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters at Stormont, Ms McDonald urged that \u201cwe do not go down the road of the British Government pandering to their veterans and compromising the effectiveness and the legality of the legacy framework\u201d.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe have been given assurances that there will be absolute vigilance on the part of the Irish Government in that regard, and that the interstate case still remains live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms McDonald said it is important the UK Government understands it could not \u201cwalk away from the real need for effective and fully legally compliant legacy mechanisms\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Taoiseach\u2019s second meeting was with a DUP delegation, which included leader Gavin Robinson and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Mr Robinson said he is \u201ccontinually disappointed\u201d with the approach of the Irish Government, particularly Ireland\u2019s interstate case against the UK over the Legacy Act, and their \u201cunwillingness to engage\u201d with the Omagh Bombing Inquiry, or set up their own parallel inquiry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has always been a disgrace \u2013 I\u2019ve indicated to you very clearly \u2013 an Irish Government that talks a lot about legacy but has delivered nothing for victims, an Irish Government that has more answers in their top drawer than they have the temerity to give lectures to the UK Government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey continually ask a lot of others, but they fail time and time and time again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Martin is also due to meet the other main parties at Stormont,\u00a0as well as business leaders, and engage with Women\u2019s Aid.<\/p>\n

Later, he will mark the signing of a 700 million euro (\u00a3604 million) contract for a new fleet of cross-border trains, before delivering the Lord David Trimble Lecture 2026 at Queen\u2019s University Belfast.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of his visit, the Taoiseach said he is pleased to be returning to Belfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy visit includes multiple opportunities to hear directly from political, business and civic leaders and to discuss ongoing and evolving all-island priorities which benefit us all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am also pleased to be delivering the Lord David Trimble Lecture in Queen\u2019s University.<\/p>\n

\u201cDavid played a critical role in the achievement of the Good Friday Agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe principles and purpose of the Agreement remain central to what my Government does and how we foster relationships across these islands.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI am committed to continuing to work toward reconciliation and mutual trust, as we collectively set out to do in 1998, including through the Shared Island Initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

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ADVERTISEMENT – CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Irish premier has heard starkly opposing views on dealing with Northern Ireland\u2019s troubled past during meetings with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436952,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4501,61,60,1843,43,109643],"class_list":["post-436951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-belfast","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-stormont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}