Sinn Fein win sparks Brexit stress
The British foreign secretary has issued a warning to Brussels to fix the Northern Ireland protocol or jeopardise the peace process after Sinn Fein became the largest party in the province for the first time.
The shift has overturned more than a century of Unionist and Protestant majorities in Northern Ireland dating back to when it was created in 1921. The nationalists will now seek to nominate a first minister who wants the province to leave the United Kingdom, which could bring the prospect of a united Ireland a step closer.
Sinn Fein emerged as the largest party at the weekend when it secured the necessary 27 seats. However, it is unlikely that a new Stormont government can be formed because, under the Good Friday agreement, power must be shared with the largest Unionist party. The DUP has warned that it will not make a deal unless the protocol is overhauled.
Introduced after Brexit to prevent a hard Irish border, the protocol has imposed sweeping checks on imports from mainland Britain and has been blamed for significant trade disruption.
The British government is on a collision course with the European Union, which has said it will ‘‘never’’ change its negotiating mandate for the protocol. Maros Sefcovic, vice-president of the European Commission, is understood to have made clear that the EU would never have a mandate to renegotiate the protocol or to go beyond existing proposals.
Liz Truss, Britain’s foreign secretary, is said to be ‘‘deeply concerned’’ that the EU’s reluctance to change its position is undermining the Good Friday agreement and will extend political instability.
A Foreign Office source said: ‘‘It’s incredibly disheartening that despite the political and economic damage the protocol is causing in Northern Ireland, the commission continue to adopt such a rigid and hardline negotiating position.’’
Sinn Fein’s victory will reignite the debate about the possibility of a referendum on Northern Ireland and Ireland becoming one country.
Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Fein vice-president, has said she is planning for reunification but played down the prospect of a border poll in a campaign focused on healthcare and the cost of living.
In her declaration speech in Magherafelt after topping the poll in Mid Ulster yesterday, she said: ‘‘Today ushers in a new era which I believe presents us all with an opportunity to reimagine relationships ... on the basis of fairness ... Irrespective of religious, political or social backgrounds my commitment is tomake politics work.’’
However, the party’s leader, Mary Lou McDonald, who is on course to become prime minister after Ireland’s general election in 2025, said on Saturday she believed a border poll would be ‘‘possible within a five-year time frame’’.