The US mid-term election result will not affect US attitudes to the Northern Ireland Protocol, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said today.
Speaking to RTÉ in Washington, Simon Coveney said there was bipartisan support for the EU and the UK reaching a negotiated solution.
Following a meeting with the Friends of Ireland group in Congress, Mr Coveney said: "I think the message is very clear.
"Whether it's a Republican controlled Congress or a Democrat controlled Congress, the position in Ireland is not going to change.
"They want the issues linked to the Northern Protocol settled.
"They want the UK government to act responsibly to protect a peace process and to respect deals that have been agreed in the past.
"But they also expect that that the Irish Government, the EU and the UK government will be able to work together in partnership to try and resolve many of these issues in the coming weeks through pragmatism, through flexibility, and through a willingness to compromise."
Mr Coveney also said the Irish Government was not surprised at being targeted by Russian sanctions.
"This is something that we're not that surprised at, Ireland has taken a very clear position on this conflict," he said.
"We think that Russia is breaking international law, breaking the UN Charter."
He said he believed it would not have been credible for Ireland to avoid taking a stance against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"If you don't take a stand on something something like that, I don't think you're a credible part of the international community," Mr Coveney said.
"And Ireland is not neutral on the war in Ukraine, and I think we have been to the forefront in terms of calling for sanctions".
25th anniversary of Good Friday
Meanwhile, at the G20 summit in Indonesia, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held talks with US President Joe Biden, which touched on the situation in Northern Ireland.
Mr Sunak said he hoped the post-Brexit issues can be resolved by the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement next year.
Asked if the US president raised concerns about the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, the Prime Minister's press secretary said: "Not specifically, no".
Pressed on whether he did about the Northern Ireland situation in general, she said: "Yes."
"They both expressed their commitment to protecting the Good Friday Agreement," she said.
She added that the Prime Minister "expressed his desire to get a negotiated settlement and to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement is protected."
Mr Sunak referred to next year's 25th anniversary of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and "ensuring that we get a negotiated settlement that protects the Good Friday Agreement by then", she said.
The White House readout of the meeting said the two leaders "affirmed their shared commitment to protecting the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement".
The UK's stance on the protocol is one of the factors which have led to stalled progress on a trade deal with Washington.
In Dublin, Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne welcomed the UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Europe Leo Docherty to Iveagh House today.
Minister Byrne stressed the Government's wish to see functioning institutions in place for the people of Northern Ireland and to see early substantive progress made in EU-UK talks on the Protocol.
He said: "It is important that time and space has been given to allow progress on the EU-UK talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
"This time must be used constructively so that lasting solutions can be agreed for people and businesses in Northern Ireland.
"Ireland and the EU both want the strongest possible relationship with the UK."
Health service pressures
Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O'Neill has said she will not give up on efforts to restore the Stormont executive amid a health service crisis in Northern Ireland.
Ms O'Neill also called for a speedy resolution to issues with the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol in negotiations between the UK and the EU.
Ms O'Neill said if issues relating to the protocol could be resolved, then it could lead to the return of the Stormont executive.
The DUP is currently boycotting the devolved institutions in protest at the protocol and the party insists it will not countenance a return to Stormont until its economic barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland are removed.
There has been a heightened focus on the talks between the EU and UK following the collapse of the devolved government in Northern Ireland.
Ms O'Neill said: "What we now need to see are the protocol discussions to continue in earnest.
"What we need is a speedy resolution, an agreed resolution that allows the executive to go back up.
"That's what I'm working for, that's what the nursing staff are telling us they want us to work for and I think the public deserve no less.
"I want to be in the executive. I want to appoint a ministerial team.
"I am worried that we don't have an executive in this climate where our health service is collapsing around us."
Health service pressures have been evident in Northern Ireland in recent days with a number of hospitals urging the public only to attend in emergency situations.
Ms O'Neill and party colleagues Conor Murphy and Colm Gildernew met nurses in Belfast today to discuss the situation.
Speaking afterwards, she said: "Clearly there is a very challenging situation facing our whole health service, but in particular our nursing staff.
"It is very clear speaking directly to nursing staff this morning the fact that they feel undervalued, the fact that they feel exhausted and demoralised.
"They are crying out for support and for help, just to do their jobs.
"What we need now is an executive. We need an executive which prioritises health. We need an executive to work very quickly to fix what is wrong.
"I am not giving up. I think the one thing nurses also asked for is some hope.
"Some hope that there will be an executive, some hope that we can work with other parties, some hope that we can prioritise a budget for health."
On Saturday night the Antrim Area Hospital temporarily closed its doors to new admissions after it declared a major incident due to pressures caused by the number of patients attending the emergency department.
Since then, a number of other hospitals have described operating under extreme pressure, with a large number of patients waiting in EDs and ambulances queuing outside.
A budget for 2022/23 had not been agreed by the Stormont parties prior to the ministerial executive imploding in February.
Before that, ministers had agreed in principle that any new spending plan would need to allocate increased funding to the region's crisis-hit health service.
