Sir Chris Bryant outlines 'checklist' of issues as he takes up NI secretary role

It is Sir Chris's first cabinet position, although he held a number of shadow front bench roles

Northern Ireland's newly-appointed secretary of state has said he has "a bit of a checklist" of issues he wants to address as he takes on the role.

Sir Chris Bryant was appointed to the job following Prime Minister Andy Burnham's Cabinet reshuffle on Monday.

Sir Chris, the MP for Rhondda and Ogmore, replaced Hilary Benn, and said his appointment came as a quite a shock, describing the role as "daunting".

His predecessor said he wished Sir Chris "all the very best in working with the executive to protect stability, continuing to generate growth and investment and in taking forward the Troubles Bill".

Sir Chris told BBC News NI that his new role demanded "such phenomenal responsibility".

He said his checklist includes "economic opportunity" for young people, a functioning executive, Troubles' legacy legislation and public services.

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However, he said a border poll on Irish unity was "not on my list of priorities at the moment".

"I just want to get this legacy legislation through parliament in the way that works for everybody. I want to make sure we have the executive fully functioning.

"We need to make sure every young person in Northern Ireland sees an economic opportunity for themselves in Northern Ireland and for their family," he added.

He said he had visited Northern Ireland numerous times, often for concerts and theatre, and feels the creative industry was "ready for a real boost".

The Northern Ireland role is Sir Chris's first cabinet position, although he held a number of shadow front bench roles under Sir Keir Starmer and Jeremy Corbyn.

However, he was positive about Northern Ireland's current economic position.

"You've got the best of both worlds being in the single market and in the United Kingdom. We need to exploit all these economic opportunities. Let's lift our eyes to much bigger horizons about economic prosperity."

The DUP leader Gavin Robinson said he hoped Sir Chris Bryant can build on the work done by his predecessor Hilary Benn

Earlier, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that Sir Chris was in a position "to seize discussions around financial stabilities and around providing a budget and around doing some of the structural changes that Hilary has done the spade work for".

"We don't want to be in a position where we have to start from scratch again," Robinson added.

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