Irish-UK relations now worse than Thatcher era
Martin and Coveney both hit out at British threats over Protocol
IRELAND’S relationship with the UK is at its lowest ebb since the 1970s, senior Government sources have warned.
In an unprecedented war of words, both Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney have hit out at British threats to discard aspects of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin warned that any attempt by the UK to disapply elements of the Protocol would ‘destabilise the situation even further’, and called on Britain to engage ‘professionally and sincerely’.
And Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney criticised British ‘sabre-rattling’. He warned that ripping up the Protocol could undermine the peace process and send a message around the world that the British government breaks international laws.
In some of his hardest-hitting statements on Boris Johnson’s government, Mr Coveney criticised the ‘sabre-rattling’ and ‘grandstanding’ in London.
Mr Coveney told Sky News: ‘‘There are solutions that can ease concern [over the Protocol] and that’s what we need to focus on together, as opposed to the British government acting on its own, illegally, in a way that doesn’t reflect majority opinion in Northern Ireland and sends a message to the world that the British government, when it suits them, will set aside international law.’
Admitting his position had become ‘more strident’, Mr Coveney said: ‘What’s happening at the moment has forced Ireland into taking a much more strident position and responding honestly to the unhelpful briefings that we’re getting from very, very senior levels in the British government this week, which seems to be laying the groundwork for a decision which, I believe, could be deeply harmful for the relationship between Britain and Ireland, if we don’t see sense in the next few days.’
The exchanges have accentuated concerns that Anglo-Irish relations are entering ‘a deep freeze’. Foreign affairs expert Brigid Laffan warned the relationship was frostier now than during the Thatcher era.
And Labour Party leader and former Reid Professor of Law Ivana Bacik warned that a move by the British government to act unilaterally on the Protocol would ‘clearly be a breach of international law’. She described Anglo-Irish relations as ‘at a particularly low point’.
Mr Johnson travels to Belfast today for talks with the Northern Ireland parties. He said yesterday that the British government remained open to ‘genuine dialogue’ with Brussels. But amid fears of a trade war, he said if there was no movement on the EU side, the government will set out its ‘next steps in the coming days’.