“They discussed the ongoing talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol, and expressed hope that good progress can be made.
2/ “Economic prospects for Ireland and the UK were also raised, with the Taoiseach pointing to growth in the Irish economy but how inflation is adversely affecting people and business.
3/ “Both Leaders expressed solidarity with Ukraine and the need to continue providing a safe refuge for people fleeing the conflict, and the challenges that brings.
4/ “The Taoiseach also briefed Mr Starmer on the new Child Poverty and Wellbeing Unit set up in the Department of the Taoiseach, inspired by the Blair/Brown model.
They looked forward to meeting again.”
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NEW: Asked in Davos if @RishiSunak will be more likely to reach agreement on the NI Protocol than Boris Johnson or Liz Truss wd have been Taoiseach @LeoVaradkar says "we did come to an agreement with PM Theresa May, but it wasn't possible for her to get it through the Commons...
2/ "We then did come to an agreement with PM Johnson and he got it through the House of Commons and through an election but then decided to resile from that [agreement].
3/ "So what we want to know from PM Sunak, and I believe this will be the case, is can we get an agreement that will stick? A landing zone isn't good enough, it needs to be a stable landing zone.
The Taoiseach @LeoVaradkar has said the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement was not an absolute deadline in law for the EU and UK to secure agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
2/ He told reporters in Davos: “It would be a really good thing if we could have an agreement before the 25th anniversary in April of the Good Friday Agreement [which] brought peace to Northern Ireland and has helped the entire island to move on since then.
3/ “But if that's not possible that's not going to cause us to stop. It isn't an absolute deadline in law or anything like that.”
Despite the brevity of the joint statement by @JamesCleverly and @MarosSefcovic one EU source said there was more optimism in Brussels about an agreed outcome on the Northern Ireland Protocol than was reflected in the communique...
2/ The source, who is familiar with the discussions, said that landing zones on the key issues were "close".
3/ Another EU official confirmed that Cleverly and Sefcovic will meet again within the next week, although it is not yet determined if it will be in person or by video conference
NEW: There are growing indications that the EU and UK could, later today, set out an agreed framework on resolving the most contentious issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol.
2/ The British foreign secretary @JamesCleverly and @MarosSefcovic, the EU’s chief negotiator, are expected to make a joint statement following a videoconference.
3/ It follows last week’s announcement that both sides had reached agreement on granting the EU access to UK trade data on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
As flagged yesterday the UK has just published a statutory instrument allowing the relevant UK minister to take over the completion of Border Control Posts (BCPs) in NI ports, a requirement of the NI Protocol
"The Secretary of State may direct the competent authority to recruit and employ a sufficient number of suitably qualified staff to implement Article 64 of the [EU] Official Controls Regulation."
3/ And here:
"The competent authority must comply with a direction under paragraph (3) irrespective of whether any matter has been brought to the attention of, or discussed and agreed by, the Executive Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly."
NEW: The UK will bring forward legislation this week which could see work on the construction of border control posts at Northern Ireland ports resume, following months of controversy related to the Northern Ireland Protocol, @rtenews understands.
2/ This is a highly technical issue, but important in the context of this week's breakthrough in the NI Protocol talks
3/ The legislation will permit Whitehall officials to expedite completion of infrastructure for agrifood checks at the ports despite the issue being a devolved matter normally handled by the Northern Ireland civil service.