Brexit: Coveney concerned about impact on unionist relations

The tánaiste (Irish deputy PM) has said it a cause of regret and concern that the Brexit talks have impacted negatively on the relationships with unionism in NI.

Simon Coveney also said the strain Brexit had placed on Ireland's relationship with the UK had been difficult for him on a personal level.

He was speaking on Wednesday at a business event in Belfast.

Mr Coveney said he was "a product of the Anglo Irish relationship".

Most of his mother's family are English, he said, and smiled as he revealed that "one of them even voted for Brexit".

"It's the one I don't talk to very often these days," he quipped.

Addressing the Belfast Chamber of Commerce event, Mr Coveney said the fears and concerns of any one community in Northern Ireland will not be dismissed, including those of unionists.

"It has been a cause of genuine regret and concern for us, and for me in particular, that these negotiations have impacted negatively on the relationships with unionism in Northern Ireland, on political and community relationships too, and on the wider UK-Irish relationship."

His comments on Wednesday came as Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn amid uncertainty over what happens next with Brexit.

On Tuesday, MPs rejected the PM's plan to fast-track a bill to implement his deal through Parliament.

The deputy Irish prime minister said that as someone who attended university in England, worked in Scotland, and watched as his siblings developed careers in British cities, "the British/Irish relationship [is] for me personally, and also from our government's perspective, a huge priority".

He added: "The taoiseach [Leo Varadkar] is the same - he's a product of the Anglo Irish relationship. The minister for finance built his career in London as an accountant. And that is the story of so many Irish people.

"You don't have to come north of the border to understand the complexity and the closeness of British/Irish relations and I think it's important to say that, in particular for this [Belfast] audience."

He said that it is "incumbent on all of us to do what we can to collectively repair relationships that have been damaged and trust that has been lost" through Brexit.