N.Ireland situation ‘very serious’ – PM
THE situation surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol is “now very serious”, the Prime Minister has indicated.
Boris Johnson spoke to Irish premier Micheal Martin about the postBrexit arrangements yesterday.
In a Downing Street account of the call, the two leaders agreed on the vital importance of restoring the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland as soon as possible.
The Prime Minister was said to have made clear that the situation in respect of the protocol was now very serious. He also said that the balance of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement was being undermined and the recent elections had further demonstrated that the protocol was not sustainable in its current form.
“Despite repeated efforts by the UK Government over many months to fix the protocol, including those sections related to the movement of goods and governance, the European Commission had not taken the steps necessary to help address the economic
and political disruption on the ground,” a Downing Street spokesman said.
“The Prime Minister reiterated that the UK Government would take action to protect peace and political stability in Northern Ireland if solutions could not be found.”
However, Tanaiste Leo Varadkar has warned the UK Government against taking unilateral action on the protocol.
Mr Varadkar told RTE: “We can’t have any unilateral action from the UK. This is an international agreement, they have to honour their obligations. I was in the Wirral with Boris Johnson. I know what he agreed to.
“The people of Northern Ireland voted and they did not vote for a majority of MLAs who want the protocol to be scrapped. So the British Government has to have regard to that. This is a democracy and an election just happened. The British Prime Minister and the Secretary of State need to be wise to that, if they’re not already.”
An Irish Government spokesman said the Taoiseach had urged Mr Johnson “to engage in intensified EU-UK discussions to address issues relating to the implementation of the protocol”.
The spokesman added: “He set out clearly his serious concerns at any unilateral action at this time, which would be destabilising in Northern Ireland and erode trust.
“The Taoiseach pointed out that the EU has engaged constructively in the protocol discussions, addressing the issue of medicines, and last October putting forward a substantial package of flexibilities and mitigations, including on customs and SPS arrangements.”