- Author, Jayne McCormack
- Role, BBC News NI political correspondent
Simon Harris will meet the first and deputy first ministers on Friday when he makes his first visit to Northern Ireland as taoiseach (Irish PM).
At the time he pledged to honour his position as a co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement and work along with the Northern Ireland Executive.
He will even meet with leaders from the Alliance Party, the Ulster Unionist Party and the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) when he visits Stormont later.
It will even take a look at areas of widespread curiosity and potential alternatives for sensible all-island cooperation.
He will even be briefed by key enterprise stakeholders in Northern Ireland and talk about enterprise atmosphere challenges and alternatives over a working lunch.
Mr Harris will even be hosted by the Duncairn Arts Centre, the place the main focus will likely be on the achievements within the reconciliation and neighborhood improvement work of the 174 Trust by way of incapacity, arts, ladies and pre-school teams.
Finally, he’ll visit Queen’s University to meet with teachers concerned in some ongoing all-island analysis.
UK asylum coverage row
Earlier this week, First Minister Michelle O’Neill stated officers wanted to “get to grips” with current points between the UK and Ireland regarding asylum seeker coverage.
Irish authorities ministers collectively accepted the plan introduced to the cupboard by Justice Minister Helen McEntee.
Last week she claimed greater than 80% of current asylum claims in Ireland had been from individuals who arrived within the state by crossing the border with Northern Ireland.
The Irish authorities is struggling to take care of the variety of asylum seekers who’ve arrived within the state in recent times.
But the British authorities has stated it’s going to resolve who it accepts into the UK.
It is probably going that Mr Harris will talk about the problem with Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly throughout Friday’s assembly.
On Wednesday, the Tánaiste (Irish deputy PM) Micheál Martin spoke to the Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris about unlawful migration.
In a press release launched by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) afterwards, it stated Mr Martin confirmed there could be no deployment of Irish cops to the Irish border and that the Irish authorities shared a “steadfast commitment” to securing the exterior border of the Common Travel Area.
What is the Common Travel Area?
The Common Travel Area (CTA) is a particular journey zone protecting the United Kingdom; Republic of Ireland; Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
Under its guidelines, UK and Irish residents can journey freely into one another’s international locations.
It additionally provides them particular residential rights underneath which they will arrange house and entry public providers in one another’s states with out immigration restrictions.
These free motion preparations, in varied varieties, date again to the institution of the Irish Free State in 1922.
However, CTA rights don’t prolong to migrants, even when they maintain lawful residency within the UK or Ireland.
