Ulster in turmoil as leader quits over EU border checks
NORTHERN Ireland’s First Minister triggered a fresh crisis yesterday by resigning in protest at post-Brexit checks on food arriving from Great Britain.
Paul Givan of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) made the move as part of a long-running row over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The protocol was agreed by the UK and EU to ensure free movement of trade across the Irish land border would continue after Brexit.
But Unionist politicians have clashed with their colleagues on Northern Ireland’s ruling executive over its effect on the province.
Mr Givan said the protocol ‘represents an existential threat to the future of Northern Ireland’s place within the Union’.
His DUP colleague Edwin Poots, the agriculture minister, ordered a halt to checks on agriculture and food products at Northern Ireland’s ports on Wednesday.
While checks appeared to be continuing yesterday, Mr Givan’s resignation means the province’s executive is unable to make significant decisions.
This is because it automatically removes Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill from her post as Deputy First Minister as, under Stormont’s power-sharing rules, one cannot hold office without the other.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said the DUP’s decision to withdraw Mr Givan was ‘extremely disappointing’.
He added: ‘I urge them to reinstate the First Minister immediately to ensure the necessary delivery of public services for the citizens of Northern Ireland.’
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said he was ‘deeply concerned’ and warned the DUP against any action that could ‘damage peace and stability in Northern Ireland’.
While other ministers can remain in place, the executive cannot meet or make any significant decisions. This would prevent the coalition from agreeing a threeyear budget, which is currently out for public consultation.
A planned official state apology by Mr Givan and Mrs O’Neill to victims of historic institutional abuse, scheduled for March, would also not happen, while the status of the remaining Covid-19 restrictions is unclear.
Mrs O’Neill suggested the DUP ministers’ tactics were a stunt ahead of elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May.
Yesterday’s new crisis came as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic met to discuss reducing the Brexit barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has repeatedly threatened to bring down the Stormont institutions in protest against the socalled border in the Irish Sea, which was introduced as part of the protocol.
The Northern Ireland executive was reconstituted only in 2020, following a three-year power-sharing impasse triggered by a row about a botched green energy scheme.