Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said he was disappointed but not surprised that Stormont's politicians had failed for a fifth time to restore power-sharing.
The election of a speaker failed after the DUP refused to support the move.
An assembly speaker must be elected before an executive can be formed and any other assembly business done.
MLAs returned to the chamber today to try and elect a speaker, after 30 of them signed what is called a recall petition.
Mr Coveney was in Belfast for meetings with victims' groups, business leaders and the Northern Secretary Chris Heaton Harris.
Mr Coveney said the bulk of his talks with the Northern Secretary had centered on the UK government's controversial legacy proposals.
Legislation being taken through Westminister would effectively shut down most legal avenues for the families of Troubles' victims.
Mr Coveney said his talks with the Northern Secretary had been the most "comprehensive" yet.
He said the only way to deal with the issue was through "partnership and consensus", not unilateral action which was roundly opposed.
Mr Coveney would not be drawn on whether he would lose his ministerial office in the upcoming cabinet reshuffle and whether this would be his last trip north in his current position.
He also said he understood why Mr Heaton Harris had moved to cut MLA pay in Northern Ireland, taking 27% off their £51,000 basic salaries.
He said real time data sharing between Britain and the UK on goods crossing between Britain and Northern Ireland would be central to any protocol deal.
He said he wasn't prepared to give a running commentary on the negotiations but that the two negotiating teams had engaged on a lot of detail this week.
"I think we're well advised to leave them at it," he said.
A motion on the cost of living crisis was also laid for debate today, but could not take place after the failure to elect a speaker.
It raised concerns that a £600 energy support payment promised to homeowners months ago still has not been delivered.
The DUP is refusing to facilitate a return to power-sharing as part of its campaign against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Its opponents say the absence of an executive is hindering the delivery of the energy support payment.
The DUP has blamed the UK government, saying it has decided to change the payment mechanism late in the day, delaying the scheme.
The money is already being rolled out in other parts of the UK.
But people in Northern Ireland have been told it is likely to be the New Year before they get any cash.
It had originally been intended as a credit to people's electricity bills.
But now there are plans to allow people to cash a proportion of it in so they can spend it on home heating oil, which 70% of homes in Northern Ireland rely on.
Meanwhile, Mr Heaton-Harris said efforts are being made to ensure energy support payments are sent out to people in Northern Ireland "as soon as possible".
"It will happen this winter," he told reporters in Belfast.
Mr Heaton-Harris dismissed allegations that delays are being used in order to put pressure on Northern Ireland's power-sharing institutions to be restored, and said the payments would be issued "hopefully as soon as possible".
"With the greatest respect for those who say it's the British Government's fault, we did try to work with ministers at the time, because we don't have, as the UK Government, the appropriate relationships to get the money out," he said.
"Covid payments were made through Invest NI, for example, so we are now having to build a new relationship and it's a huge amount of taxpayers' money that is going to come out, but it will come out this winter."
'We need to see action on protocol'
DUP MLA Gordon Lyons said: "We need to get the protocol resolved once and for all, because it's not acceptable.
"It's not right that unionists would be forced to be part of government and forced to take actions that it believes is detrimental to people in Northern Ireland, and so it is absolutely right that we get this sorted out and that we get action taken to ensure that this is sorted out."
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said that the DUP has been saying for two years that the protocol is not working, "that it is not acceptable. We gave time and we gave space".
"We were in the position not that long ago when the Irish Government were saying that there were no issues with the protocol, when the UK government denied that there were any issues with the protocol, the EU were saying there didn't need to be any changes and other parties in Northern Ireland were calling for the rigorous implementation of the protocol," he said.
"Because of the actions of the DUP, no one is in that space anymore and everyone has moved their positions.
"So, I think by highlighting what we've highlighted and highlighting these concerns, that actually has moved people along.
"But we have good words right now, what we need to see is action on behalf of the UK government and the European Union."
