DUP’S Poots warns of paramilitary violence if Protocol unchanged
Outgoing DUP leader Edwin Poots has expressed fears of serious loyalist paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland this summer if Irish Sea trade barriers are not removed.
Mr Poots, who was ousted after three weeks in charge in an internal party revolt last week, said he would have been prepared to collapse the power-sharing institutions at Stormont next month if changes were not secured to the contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.
However, the Lagan Valley MLA conceded that if there was a snap Northern Ireland Assembly election – a consequence of collapsing Stormont – Sinn Fein would currently be likely to displace the DUP as the largest party.
In response, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou Mcdonald said talk of abolishing the Protocol was “not grounded in reality”.
The Protocol, which has created barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was agreed by the UK and EU as a way to maintain a free-flowing land border on the island of Ireland postbrexit.
Thearrangementsarefiercely opposed by many loyalists and unionists, who believe they are undermining Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.
Mr Poots claimed that violence that erupted in several loyalist areas in April, in part over anger at the Protocol, was mainly confined to young people with no paramilitary links.
But in an interview with BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show, he warned paramilitaries may get involved if violence was to flare again in the summer.
He said: “In terms of where loyalism is at this moment in time, I think what you would have witnessed earlier in the year was largely young loyalists who were not connected to parliamentary organisations.
“I fear that if things don’t change over the course of the summer time, that perhaps some older people who are involved in paramilitaries will get involved.
“That’s my fear: that if we do not resolve things politically, the street politics will become the focus, and street politics has the potential to lead to violence.
“And therefore it is incumbent upon us to ensure the politics works, and a failure of politics has the potential for a significant problem in our community, which could lead to people being hurt, and we should really try to avoid that.”