Sinn Féin vote victory sees uncertainty reign

THE British government is planning to unilaterally ditch the Northern Ireland Protocol in a desperate attempt to ensure a new Executive is formed after the elections saw Sinn Féin become the largest party in the North.

Victorious Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald said the DUP had walked themselves down a cul de sac when it came to the protocol.

However, the DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson, writing in The Sunday Telegraph yesterday, said ‘every unionist candidate standing in the election stood in opposition to the protocol and attracted some 360,000 votes. 40% of all votes cast were explicitly for parties who opposed the protocol.

‘Given that the political institutions in Northern Ireland operate on the basis of cross-community consensus, the lack of any unionist

‘Political posturing is unacceptable’

support for the protocol means that it is unworkable.’

Speaking on Newstalk Ms McDonald said a refusal by the DUP to return opened up ‘a terrible vista and people will suffer’.

She said: ‘In the current cost of living crisis political posturing and anyone just standing on the sidelines is totally unacceptable.’

Now in an attempt to ensure a functioning Executive can be established the British government is preparing to over-ride the post protocol arrangement in an attempt to break the ongoing impasse.

British foreign minister Liz Truss had said that negotiations with the EU are at the point of ‘running out of road’.

British sources have claimed Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s Brexit negotiator, told the UK the EU will ‘never’ agree to proposals to overhaul the protocol.

The Tory party has denied claims a Bill setting out a replacement arrangement may be unveiled next week.

The British government has however claimed privately that ‘the situation is getting increasingly urgent, and the feeling is we can’t let this crisis drag on and on. It feels like we have run out of road with negotiations unless something significant happens in terms of the EU changing its position’.

However, any move to mollify the DUP is likely to strain diplomatic relations between Ireland and the UK – already at their lowest ebb since the Thatcher era .

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said outstanding issues surrounding the protocol must be resolved.

Yesterday he told RTÉ’s This Week: ‘There is a responsibility, I think on us all, to respect how the people voted and to find a way of working with the parties to put an Executive and Assembly that can work back in place.’

Mr Coveney warned there is a need for partnership from Britain – not threats – to solve the issue.

He added: ‘The EU is prepared to make changes, but the EU needs a partner in order to make it happen.’

Ms McDonald said none of the protocol issues are beyond resolution but added: ‘Boris Johnson and his government need to start working proactively in good faith with the EU.’

Despite the success of Sinn Féin support for a border poll across all parties continues to be chilly.

Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said, despite Sinn Féin’s achievement, the overall position indicated that support for such a poll is now lower after the election.

Mr Coveney said that people have the right to aspire to a border poll, just as those who want to remain in the union have a legitimate right to that view.

But the focus over the coming weeks and months must be on building trust between the parties in the North and removing obstacles so that a devolved government can function again.