“Now more than ever, I would like to call again to refrain from unilateral actions, be they the legacy of the past, human rights or the Northern Ireland Protocol. We now have the opportunity to return to the original spirit of partnership and mutual respect necessary to underpin the achievements of the Good Friday Agreement.

Tensions between the UK, EU and Ireland have risen in recent months as London introduced a bill that would allow key parts of the protocol to be scrapped. It also launched a proposed law introducing a statute of limitations for prosecuting crimes committed by British forces in the Northern Ireland conflict.

“Britain is our closest neighbour,” Martin said after Johnson’s resignation. “It is very important that we have a very strong and deep-rooted relationship: economic, social, cultural and of course in terms of the role of the respective governments as co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement… It is fair to say that this relationship has been under pressure lately.

I believe that now is the opportunity to reestablish that relationship, to avoid the arbitrariness inherent in the heritage and human rights enshrined in the European Union Convention on Human Rights and the relationship with good. Friday’s agreement, of course, with regard to protocol.