DUP ‘foolish’ to trust government on the Northern Ireland Protocol

The DUP would be “foolish” to trust the UK Government on the Northern Ireland Protocol given the number of times it has thrown the party “under the bus” over Brexit, Michelle O’Neill has said.

The Sinn Fein vice president’s comments came after the DUP welcomed the government move to act unilaterally to scrap parts of the contentious post-Brexit trading arrangements.

The region’s main unionist party is currently blocking the reestablishment of Stormont’s powersharing institutions in protest at the protocol, which has created economic barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

While welcoming Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’s controversial announcement on Tuesday to legislate to override parts of the Brexit withdrawal treaty, the DUP has said it will adopt a “graduated and cautious” approach to re-engaging with the devolved institutions depending on the progress of the legislation.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said the party needs assurances in the form of actions, not words.

Ms O’Neill said Sir Jeffrey would be illadvised to trust the government, suggesting his party had been burned by promises from this Conservative government before. Prior to becoming prime minister, Boris Johnson famously pledged to the DUP party conference he would never agree to a Brexit deal that created economic barriers in the Irish Sea.

He subsequently struck a deal that contained the protocol.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said: “Since the election, the SDLP and Sinn Fein attitude to unionists has been ‘sit there and be quiet’”.

“Well, unionists will not be quiet.

“With not a single unionist MLA or MP supporting the protocol, we will be making our voices heard.

“We have been raising our lack of support for the protocol for more than two years.

“We have been reasonable and patient.”

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.