Simon Coveney: Northern Ireland is facing real challenges; its politicians need to get back to work
I used those words to open an editorial in a Northern Irish newspaper nine months ago as the Irish and British governments gathered at Stormont House in the wake of the horrific murder of Lyra McKee.
It has inspired and driven me in the months that have passed since. So too have Northern Ireland’s political leaders, who came together and showed leadership and commitment in Derry in the immediate wake of Lyra’s murder. She said: “Northern Ireland is a beautiful tragedy, strangled by the chains of its past. It’s a place full of darkness and mysteries. It’s also my home. Sometimes I love it and hate it in equal measure. Yet, despite being a tiny country, we disproportionately contribute talent to the rest of the world.”
It can see the elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland take their seats and act in the interests of the people who elected them.