Statement by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee following phone call with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper

I spoke with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper this afternoon. It was a welcome opportunity to congratulate her upon her recent appointment, and to reaffirm the importance of our relationship and shared commitment to co-operation on a range of matters of mutual concern.

We discussed the ongoing disturbances across the United Kingdom over the last week.

We spoke about the common challenges faced by Governments and countries across Europe, including similar escalations of violence in Ireland in recent times with anti-migrant undercurrents.

Assaulting police officers, burning buildings and attacking public amenities cannot be tolerated in a democratic society.

We agreed on the importance of countering racism, supporting our migrant communities, and bringing to justice the perpetrators of such terrible violence.

I noted the strong, ongoing co-operation between the Gardaí and UK police services and assured the Home Secretary of the full cooperation of Gardaí, if needed, on investigations involving any people from this jurisdiction who have participated in acts of violent disorder.

We also spoke about protecting the Common Travel Area, which is vital to the daily lives of so many Irish and British citizens, and our joint commitment to preventing any abuse of it.

I welcomed the significant operational cooperation between the Gardaí, UK Border Force, and UK policing services. This cooperation serves our mutual interests and will continue.

Finally, we took the opportunity to discuss a number of matters relating to combatting domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV).

I welcomed the UK Government’s mission to halve violence against women and girls and reiterated my own commitment to working towards zero tolerance in our society for DSGBV.

We also discussed cross-border cooperation on combatting DSGBV.

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