The Taoiseach is travelling to Belfast today for talks with politicians and business leaders as political deadlock at Stormont continues.
The DUP is refusing to restore power-sharing until its demands regarding the Northern Ireland protocol are met.
Westminster has threatened to unilaterally tear up parts of the agreement unless it can reach a compromise with the EU.
The EU has warned that such a move would be unacceptable and would lead to retaliation.
The Taoiseach Micheál Martin will today meet party leaders in Belfast before hosting a delegation from the Business Community.
A Government spokesperson said the talks would focus on efforts to restore power-sharing as well as the protocol and legacy issues.
They said the meetings with business leaders would focus on “issues around implementation of the Protocol and on economic opportunities for Northern Ireland”.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney is expected to meet the UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on the margins of a council of Europe meeting in Turin today.
Minister Coveney said he would use the opportunity to “urge the UK Government to move away from threats of unilaterally breaching international law & damaging international relations”.
He noted that the EU remains ready to negotiate pragmatic solutions to any outstanding issues with the protocol.
As I have stated in my conversations with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary & Members of the House of Commons, if the United Kingdom chooses to undermine the Good Friday Accords, the Congress cannot & will not support a bilateral free trade agreement with the U.K.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) May 19, 2022
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said UK threats to tear up the protocol are “deeply concerning”.
She again warned that US Congress “cannot & will not support a bilateral free trade agreement with the UK” if Westminster moves forward with the plan.
She said: “The children of Northern Ireland, who have never known the bloody conflict and do not want to go back, deserve a future free of the violence where all may reach their fulfilment.”
