Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has said his priority is to establish a new relationship between the UK government and Stormont's power-sharing Executive.
Mr Benn was speaking after hosting a meeting with Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly at Hillsborough Castle in Co Down, which he described as "very constructive".
He also met representatives of the Stormont parties during his first visit to the region since taking up the role yesterday.
He said: "I wanted to get to work as quickly as possible and was therefore pleased to be able to hold these initial discussions with the first and deputy first ministers and representatives from the other parties.
"My immediate priorities are to establish a new relationship between the UK government and the Northern Ireland Executive as we work together to foster economic growth and prosperity, and to improve public services.
"I want to ensure that we have a system in place for addressing the legacy of the past in a way that wins support from victims' families and that all communities can have confidence in, and which is compliant with human rights."
Ms O'Neill told the Mr Benn that there is an urgent need for fairer funding and investment in public services in the north.
"We strongly made the case for fair funding to be provided urgently for health, education and public services here," she said in a statement after a delegation from her party attended a meeting with Mr Benn.
"The cuts our people and public services have endured under the Tories must end now."
Sinn Féin also called for funding to be released to build Casement Park and for Labour to "follow through on previous commitments to scrap the Tories’ shameful Legacy Act".
Ms Little-Pengelly said she outlined the "need for collaborative work on public service transformation" in particular waiting lists and childcare with Mr Benn.
In a post on social media platform X, Ms Little-Pengelly said she raised the matter of protecting jobs especially in relation to the Spirit Aerosystems sale and the full implementation of Safeguarding the Union.
Positive meeting with new Secretary of State - I outlined need for collaborative work on public service transformation esp waiting lists & childcare, focus to protect jobs re Spirit AeroSystems sale, and full implementation of Safeguarding the Union & removing remaining frictions pic.twitter.com/aOGwLpNYwJ
— Emma Little-Pengelly BL (@little_pengelly) July 6, 2024
SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood and party colleague Claire Hanna held discussions with the Northern Ireland Secretary in which they also discussed the "objective of repealing and replacing the toxic Tory Legacy Act immediately".
"The SDLP worked hard to make this an early commitment for a Labour government and we will be pushing hard to see it implemented quickly," Mr Eastwood said in a statement.
In what he described as a "positive first meeting", Mr Eastwood said delivering "emergency aid" to the health service in Northern Ireland and the British government's commitment to Casement Park were also discussed.
"I am impressed with Hilary Benn and with the efforts to restore and renew Britain’s relationship with Ireland which has been badly damaged by the Tory Brexit years," he said.
"Communities across these islands can thrive and will benefit from governments, parties and political leaders who understand the benefits of cooperation in the common interests of the people we represent," he added.
The meetings come ahead of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Northern Ireland on Monday.
Yesterday, Mr Benn spoke to Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin by phone.
"As our nearest neighbour and co-guarantor of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement, our relationship with Ireland is of great importance," he said.
"The new UK Government will work closely with the Irish Government to reset and strengthen the relationship between our two countries."
Mr Starmer announced Mr Benn as a member of the new Labour government yesterday, having previously served as the shadow secretary since 2023 and chairman of the Brexit Select Committee for years.
He has previously said a Labour government would repeal the controversial Legacy Act, introduced by the Tories to address Troubles legacy issues and widely opposed by all main political parties in Northern Ireland.
The Leeds MP was also vocal in urging the power-sharing institutions to be revived during the three-year hiatus.
He takes over from the Conservatives' Chris Heaton-Harris, who has been in the role for almost two years and did not contest the recent general election.
Additional reporting PA
