Taoiseach at Stormont: Martin transcends usual anodyne photoshoot

"I would never advise others on relationships," Taoiseach Micheál Martin said diplomatically after he was asked what was the current state of affairs between Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill. This was after he met the First Minister and Deputy First Minister at Stormont Castle on Thursday afternoon.

It was Martin’s first time at Stormont since he was elected Taoiseach. But he has been up North often enough over the decades and knows his way around the place. He also knows the wisdom of not butting into rows between the First Minister and Deputy First Minister

Foster and O'Neill are still at loggerheads over the apparent breach of coronavirus regulations at the recent funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey, to such an extent that they haven't been doing their regular joint press conferences about Covid-19.

But just as the visit of an uncle or aunt can create the pacifying conditions for squabbling parents or children to patch up their differences so maybe the arrival of the new taoiseach will provide an opportunity for the DUP and Sinn Féin Ministers to make up.

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Body language

Foster and O’Neill socially distanced when they met Martin at the bottom of the steps of Stormont Castle but there were smiles on their faces, the greetings were warm and friendly, and the body language was good.

Perhaps therefore by Thursday when the Northern Executive next meets, Foster and O’Neill will be presenting a united front to the press and to the public again.

If that happens the Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader will have played his part in such a rapprochement.

Not a lot was expected from his engagement with Foster and O'Neill, and separately with senior figures from the SDLP, Ulster Unionist Party and Alliance later at the nearby Stormont Hotel.

But it was more productive than the photoshoot and meet-and-greet anodyne comments that are often the case at such encounters.

Covid-19 co-operation

Instead it was a worthwhile day in that Martin, Foster and O’Neill agreed that the North-South Ministerial Council would meet on Friday, July 31st. This will be the first meeting of the council in more than three years, its absence one of the casualties of the crash of Stormont in January 2017.

The two administrations, said Martin, would continue to co-operate in tackling Covid-19 and in seeking to ensure there was an EU-UK Brexit deal, while following from the council at the end of the month, northern and southern Ministers would meet regularly to discuss projects and other areas of mutual concern and benefit.

Martin's repeated opposition to calls for a Border poll on a united Ireland in the coming five years might have annoyed O'Neill and the Ireland's Future people pressing for such a plebiscite. It would have pleased Foster.

But that was a minor element of the day. The main focus was on being good neighbours on the one island.

So all in all nothing terribly dramatic to report. Still, Uncle Micheál’s day at Stormont was not a wasted journey.