New US special envoy to NI expected 'very soon'

A US special envoy for Northern Ireland will be appointed "very soon", a former Irish ambassador to the US has said.

The role has been vacant since Mick Mulvaney quit in January 2021, having served less than a year during the Trump administration.

There has been speculation the announcement could be made before Christmas.

Dan Mulhall said it was an important post that the Biden administration has a "desire" to fill.

Mr Mulhall was the Irish ambassador to the US from 2017 until August, and prior to that he was Ireland's ambassador to the UK.

Speaking on BBC NI's Sunday Politics, he said that the timing was right, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement next April.

"It's very likely they will move sooner rather than later, we're now at the mid-point of the president's term, it would seem to me a good time to do something like this," he said.

"While I would not expect a special envoy to want to get involved in the nitty-gritty surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol, I do think that somebody coming over to Britain and Ireland with a mandate from the US president does have a certain ability to change the mood and convey some of those general messages from the US that have been, in the past, very effective."

Northern Ireland's executive and assembly have been blocked from functioning in recent months because of the Democratic Unionist Party's protest against the protocol.

Mr Mulhall worked for the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs during the negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement.

He said he "would have expected things to be much further on at this point 25 years after the event".

"We need to get up and smell the roses and understand how much progress [has been] made over the last 25 years... and get away from the sort of disputes that have affected the situation over the last couple of years."

He added that he believed a deal to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol and restore devolution ahead of the anniversary was "possible", but only if both the UK and EU worked together.

Asked if the British and Irish governments should consider reforming the institutions if power-sharing does not return, Mr Mulhall said that would "not be wise at this stage".

"I'm a traditionalist, the Good Friday Agreement has served us well," he said.

"I would not be of a mind to want to go back into some kind of negotiating process that is likely to be more complicated than anyone could imagine. I believe after 25 years it is still capable of serving us well for some time to come.

"There may come a time in future when some kind of revision is required but I don't think that would be wise at this stage."

The former diplomat added that he hoped President Biden would visit Northern Ireland as part of next year's anniversary events.

You can watch the full interview with Dan Mulhall on Sunday Politics on BBC iPlayer.