Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Ulster political leaders cautiously optimistic
POLITICAL leaders in Northern Ireland have given a cautious welcome to a deal being agreed in the Brexit negotiations.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood praised reports the UK and EU had agreed a text on the border issue, but he said any agreement must include a backstop.
He added: “The SDLP are glad to hear an agreement might have been reached and we look forward to reading the text of that agreement in detail.
“If it involves a backstop that protects Ireland from a hard border then we would hope it will gain support in Westminster.” Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann said there must not be any “ambiguity” about Northern Ireland’s place in a post-brexit UK.
He added the next 24 to 48 hours in the negotiations would set “the direction of travel for Northern
Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom for decades to come”.
Mr Swann said: “The bottom line for the Prime Minister, the Conservative government and their partners in the DUP must be the achievement of a sensible deal which respects the result of the referendum and maintains the integrity of the UK. There must be no ambiguity, constructive or otherwise, in any deal about Northern Ireland’s place within the Union in a post-brexit UK. “To do otherwise would be a serious blow against the Belfast Agreement and the principle of consent and will set a dangerous precedent for the future.”
DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds said the deal as reported would leave Northern Ireland
“subject to the rules and laws set in Brussels with no democratic input”.
He added: “We object to that on constitutional grounds that our laws would be made in Brussels, not in Westminster or Belfast. That is the fundamental red line.”
Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry described reports of an agreement as “encouraging” but expressed “caution” on a number of grounds ahead of any publication of an agreed text.
He said: “An open-ended backstop in place until or unless it is superseded is critical to protect the Good Friday Agreement and to avoid a hard border.”