Brexit: Micheál Martin and Boris Johnson discuss NI Protocol

The international co-operation shown in response to Ukraine suggests it should be possible to resolve a matter like the Northern Ireland Protocol, the taoiseach (Irish PM) has said.

Micheál Martin was speaking a day after meeting UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London, during which they discussed both the Ukraine war and the protocol.

They met before attending the England-Ireland rugby match on Saturday.

Mr Martin has a series of engagements in London ahead of St Patrick's Day.

Speaking a day after his meeting with Mr Johnson, the taoiseach told the BBC's Sunday Morning programme that some progress has already been made in the post-Brexit trade dispute between the EU and the UK.

However, he said he did not believe there would be a breakthrough before the Northern Ireland Assembly election on 5 May.

Asked if the protocol talks had now been "kicked into the long grass" because of the crisis in Ukraine, Mr Martin said: "I think we should concentrate, obviously, on our response to Ukraine."

However, he added he also believed the crisis showed it should also be possible to make further progress on problems like the post-Brexit trade dispute.

"What's interesting - and I welcome this warmly - is the very strong partnership between between the UK, the EU, the US on fundamental issues of substance - which is democracy; human rights; the freedom of the individual - and that is something that I think really trumps the issues.

"It really says to us all that we should be able to resolve issues to do with the Northern Ireland Protocol."

During Saturday's meeting, Mr Martin and Mr Johnson also discussed ways of working together to ensure the return of the Northern Ireland Executive following May's assembly election.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said it would be difficult for his party to form a government if issues around the protocol are not addressed.

The mechanism to ensure free trade across the Irish border post-Brexit has been criticised by some unionists for its knock-on impact to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In February, the DUP's Paul Givan resigned as first minister as part of the party's protest against the protocol, causing the collapse of the executive.

The taoiseach welcomed the ongoing engagement between the UK and the European Union on the protocol issue.

Mr Martin said access to the EU single market was important to Northern Ireland for inward investment but he added both sides were trying to find solutions.

He argued that the EU had "put forward a lot of sensible compromises and their mindset is to really resolve this, and I believe the foreign secretary (Liz Truss) is in the same mode of thought".

During his trip to London, the taoiseach led the city's parade to mark St Patrick's Day on Sunday, which paid tribute to the role played by Irish people in London during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Martin also wore a scarf with the colours of the Ukrainian flag during the march.