
Irish deputy premier and Northern Ireland Secretary to meet in Dublin
Ireland's deputy premier Simon Harris is to meet Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn in Dublin on Wednesday evening.
The meeting, their first to be held in person, will feature discussions on political stability in Northern Ireland, the Omagh Inquiry and the UK Government's controversial Legacy Act.
Mr Harris is understood to looking to find common ground on legacy issues, underpinned by the support of those most affected and in compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights.
They will also discuss the announcement that the two governments will appoint an independent expert to carry out a short scoping and engagement exercise to assess whether there is merit in, and support for, a formal process of engagement to bring about paramilitary group transition to disbandment.
Their meeting comes in advance of the Ireland-UK summit in Liverpool next Thursday.
Mr Harris spoke to Mr Benn by phone in January on his first full day as Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs.
During that call he extended an invite to Mr Benn to Dublin and said he looked forward to hosting him in the Irish capital 'at the earliest opportunity'.
Mr Benn last visited Dublin in early December when he met former tanaiste Micheal Martin at the British-Irish intergovernmental conference.
Elsewhere on Wednesday, the Irish Justice Minister said he had 'concerns' about establishing a separate inquiry into the Omagh bombing in the Republic of Ireland.
However, Jim O'Callaghan said the Irish Government would co-operate with the UK inquiry.
'What happened in Omagh was horrific,' he said.
'My department is co-operating with the Omagh Inquiry. We're finalising a memorandum of understanding in respect of ensuring that any relevant evidence that we have in the South is provided to the inquiry.
'I have concerns about establishing a separate inquiry down here. There's one inquiry which has been conducted at present, the Irish Government is going to co-operate with it, we are co-operating with it. I think that's where all our focus should be.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South Wales Guardian
27 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Winter fuel U-turn should have come a long time ago, Reeves told
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said on Monday that nine million pensioners will be in receipt of the payment this year after a cut was announced in the first weeks of the Labour Government last summer. The initial decision was met with heavy backlash and forced the Scottish Government to delay the implementation of its own devolved benefit. John Swinney's administration later announced a similar payment for pensioners which would be tapered and see those on the highest incomes receiving £100, compared to £305.10 for those on the least. Monday's announcement will result in cash being sent to the devolved administration at Holyrood, and Scottish Labour has urged the Government to increase its payments. But Scotland's Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said the decision was 'a betrayal' of pensioners. 'I welcome any extension of eligibility by the UK Government, but this is a U-turn the Chancellor should have made a long time ago,' she said. 'But there is still no detail about how the Chancellor intends to go about that. Unfortunately, it still sounds as if many pensioners will miss out.' Ms Somerville added that the Scottish Government had not been consulted on the decision and urged UK ministers to 'ensure the Scottish Government is fully appraised of the proposed changes as soon as possible'. 'The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury last week to urge the UK Government to share its plans with us as quickly as possible, so that we can understand any implications for our own programmes and, crucially, our budget,' she said. Scottish Labour MSP Paul O'Kane said: 'The winter fuel payment is a devolved payment in Scotland and Scottish Labour has long been clear that we want to see it reinstated for the majority of pensioners up here – but despite their loud spin, the SNP voted against our attempts to do so. 'The SNP must not go ahead with plans that would rob poorer pensioners in order to fund payments for millionaires. 'The SNP must re-examine their own proposals in light of this game-changing announcement, ensure payments reach those most in need, and give a cast-iron guarantee that no struggling Scottish pensioners will be left out of pocket under their plans.' The Scottish Government's plans were initially to provide a universal payment to pensioners, but the proposals were scuppered by the Chancellor's announcement of the cut last summer, forcing ministers to create a different system for this winter.

Leader Live
27 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Winter fuel U-turn should have come a long time ago, Reeves told
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said on Monday that nine million pensioners will be in receipt of the payment this year after a cut was announced in the first weeks of the Labour Government last summer. The initial decision was met with heavy backlash and forced the Scottish Government to delay the implementation of its own devolved benefit. John Swinney's administration later announced a similar payment for pensioners which would be tapered and see those on the highest incomes receiving £100, compared to £305.10 for those on the least. Monday's announcement will result in cash being sent to the devolved administration at Holyrood, and Scottish Labour has urged the Government to increase its payments. But Scotland's Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said the decision was 'a betrayal' of pensioners. 'I welcome any extension of eligibility by the UK Government, but this is a U-turn the Chancellor should have made a long time ago,' she said. 'But there is still no detail about how the Chancellor intends to go about that. Unfortunately, it still sounds as if many pensioners will miss out.' Ms Somerville added that the Scottish Government had not been consulted on the decision and urged UK ministers to 'ensure the Scottish Government is fully appraised of the proposed changes as soon as possible'. 'The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government wrote to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury last week to urge the UK Government to share its plans with us as quickly as possible, so that we can understand any implications for our own programmes and, crucially, our budget,' she said. Scottish Labour MSP Paul O'Kane said: 'The winter fuel payment is a devolved payment in Scotland and Scottish Labour has long been clear that we want to see it reinstated for the majority of pensioners up here – but despite their loud spin, the SNP voted against our attempts to do so. 'The SNP must not go ahead with plans that would rob poorer pensioners in order to fund payments for millionaires. 'The SNP must re-examine their own proposals in light of this game-changing announcement, ensure payments reach those most in need, and give a cast-iron guarantee that no struggling Scottish pensioners will be left out of pocket under their plans.' The Scottish Government's plans were initially to provide a universal payment to pensioners, but the proposals were scuppered by the Chancellor's announcement of the cut last summer, forcing ministers to create a different system for this winter.


BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Gloucestershire school cannot take sacked woman to Supreme Court
A school cannot take its case against a teacher who shared social media posts criticising teaching about LGBT+ relationships to the Supreme Higgs, a Christian mother of two, was sacked from her role at Farmor's School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, in 2019 for sharing Facebook posts criticising teaching about LGBT+ relationships in February, she won a Court of Appeal battle related to her dismissal, with judges finding the decision to sack her was "unquestionably a disproportionate response".The school sought to appeal against the ruling at the Supreme Court, but three justices refused to give the school the green light to challenge the decision. In a decision on Thursday, which was published on Monday, Lord Reed, Lord Hamblen, and Lady Simler said that the school had asked for the go-ahead to appeal against the ruling on four they said that the Supreme Court "does not have jurisdiction" to hear three of the grounds, and the fourth "does not raise an arguable question of law".In response to the decision, Mrs Higgs said: "I am relieved and grateful to the Supreme Court for this common-sense decision."Christians have the right to express their beliefs on social media and at other non-work-related settings without fear of being punished by their employer."Mrs Higgs, who worked as a pastoral administrator and work experience manager at the school, shared two posts on a private page under her maiden name in October 2018 to about 100 friends, which raised concerns about relationship education at her son's Church of England primary either copied and pasted from another source or reposted the content, adding her own reference in one post to "brainwashing our children".Pupils were due to learn about the No Outsiders In Our School programme, a series of books that teach the Equality Act in primary a judgment, Lord Justice Underhill, sitting with Lord Justice Bean and Lady Justice Falk, ruled in Mrs Higgs' favour in February, stating: "The dismissal of an employee merely because they have expressed a religious or other protected belief to which the employer, or a third party with whom it wishes to protect its reputation, objects will constitute unlawful direct discrimination within the meaning of the Equality Act."