UK and Ireland ‘must supplant’ the NI protocol

THE UK and Ireland should broker a bilateral deal to replace the Northern Ireland protocol, a former senior Irish diplomat has claimed, as he accused Dublin of being too close to the EU.

Ray Bassett, who served as Ireland’s ambassador to Canada, Jamaica and the Bahamas said he believed the new postbrexit trading arrangements were fuelling “such disillusionment” among unionists and should be overhauled.

Mr Bassett, who was also joint secretary to the British-irish intergovernmental conference, told The Telegraph’s Planet Normal podcast the implementation of the protocol had been “heavy handed” and had “destroyed” goodwill in Northern Ireland.

While acknowledging that the reasons behind the recent loyalist rioting in Northern Ireland were complex, he added that the protocol appeared to have been the “trigger”.

Even if the EU now made concessions to reduce the red tape and checks on goods moving across the Irish Sea, Mr Bassett said he feared it would not be “enough” due to the hostile views of unionists towards it.

Lord Frost, the former Brexit negotiator now in charge of EU relations, heads to Brussels this evening to meet Maros Sefcovic amid efforts to solve disagreements over the protocol.

Both sides last night played down the expectations of a breakthrough, with UK sources stating that significant differences remained.

Lord Frost will also hold talks with Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, and Ireland’s foreign minister Simon Coveney following the unrest of last week.

While the UK and EU insist the protocol must remain, Mr Bassett said: “Just tinkering with it at this stage is not going to do the trick.”