TÁNAISTE SIMON HARRIS is meeting today with Northern Ireland’s first minister and deputy first minister on his first visit to Belfast since taking on his new position in the Cabinet.

Harris, who is also minister for foreign affairs, is set to meet today with First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly.

Speaking ahead of the visit, Harris said that “upon being confirmed in my role as Minister for Foreign Affairs, an early visit to Belfast was a top priority for me”.

He said that he spoke with O’Neill and Little-Pengelly on Friday, as well as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn.

Today, he will meet with O’Neill and Little-Pengelly in person in Belfast. He will also meet with the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly Edwin Poots, the leader of the SDLP Claire Hanna, and the leader of the Alliance Party and Northern Ireland Minister for Justice Naomi Long.

“I wanted to ensure that there was an early engagement with the the First and deputy First Minister as well as party leaders before I meet with the Secretary of State, which I intend to do shortly,” Harris said.

“It is important to take time for discussions with them, as well as with other political leaders.

“Having just finalised our Programme for Government in recent weeks and with the Northern Ireland Executive are close to finalising theirs, we have much we can do together, including through the North South Ministerial Council and the Shared Island initiative.”

Harris said that “while this is my first visit in this new role, I visited Northern Ireland on a number of occasions as Taoiseach last year and intend to be a regular visitor in the time ahead”.

“In the weeks to come I am determined to hear from a range of voices from across Northern Ireland, community voices, civic voice and business voices, as well as political leaders.

“Importantly, I want to hear from victims and survivors of the violence on the Troubles, and their families and representatives, as we try to navigate a better way to deal with the legacy of the past.”

The meeting comes as the public inquiry into the Omagh bombing is set to hold its first substantive hearings from today.