Opinion

Welcome support for Good Friday Agreement

At a time of enormous apprehension for all the people of Ireland, north and south, as the UK prepares to withdraw from the EU, the firm statement issued by the senior European Commission figure, Frans Timmermans. will be warmly welcomed.

Mr Timmermans, the commission's first vice-president, who arrived in Dublin for an official visit yesterday, said, whatever else happens, the 1998 Good Friday Agreement remained of central importance and deserved to be protected "with all the political clout we can muster in Europe".

The contrast between the determination expressed by the former Dutch foreign minster and the equivocal messages sent out from London over the Brexit crisis will have been widely noted, and the stance of Mr Timmermans provides at least some room for optimism during an exceptionally difficult period.