Stability of UK economy in Ireland’s interest, country’s finance minister says

Ireland’s Finance Minister has said it is in Ireland’s interest that the UK economy is stable in the wake of the departure of Liz Truss as Prime Minister.

Paschal Donohoe said he hopes the Irish Government can build on the friendship that exists between the two countries with whomever is the next prime minister.

In recent days and weeks, Irish ministers had emphasised how Ireland is closely linked to the UK economy and the need for stability ahead of what is expected to be a difficult winter.

“The matter of who leads the Conservative party or who is the next Prime Minister is clearly a matter for those who are voting in it. I’ll leave that to them,” Mr Donohoe told Irish broadcaster RTE Radio 1’s Morning Ireland programme.

“The events of the last few days emphasise to me two things about Government and politics: consequence and cost.”

He said it proves that it does matter who is making decisions and the decisions that are made have an effect on a country and on an economy.

“It really matters to Ireland that the UK is doing well, that they are stable and their economy is growing,” he said.

“And we hope there’s a prime minister in place and we expect there will be that we can resume close cooperation and build on the friendship that’s there between our two countries.”

Irish premier Micheal Martin on Thursday called for a new British prime minister be selected quickly in order to bring about stability following Ms Truss’s resignation.

The Taoiseach told reporters in Brussels that “we would like to see the UK system, within its capacity, to be in a position to have a successor selected as quickly as possible”.

Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney expressed frustration on Thursday evening at “being back to instability again”, referring to tensions around the Northern Ireland Protocol and its impact on Northern Ireland.

Ms Truss’s resignation has raised concerns about the progress that had been made on reaching a breakthrough on the protocol, and on closer relations between the British and Irish governments.