DUP may quit Stormont power-share over protocol

Donaldson demands terms are renegotiated in weeks as party withdraws from meetings with Dublin

THE DUP has cut off contact with the Irish government and threatened to collapse the Stormont Assembly unless Boris Johnson forces Brussels to overhaul the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson yesterday warned Lord Frost and his EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic they had a matter of “weeks” to renegotiate the agreement, which requires Northern Ireland to continue applying EU customs rules.

In a clear ultimatum, the DUP leader also announced that his ministers would be “immediately” withdrawing from north-south meetings with Dublin because the protocol had eroded the province’s link with Britain.

Sir Jeffrey added that any revised agreement would have to eradicate sweeping checks and red tape on goods arriving from Britain, as well as application of EU law and the role of the European Court of Justice in the province.

The DUP will also use its votes in Stormont to block any new customs checks at Northern Ireland’s ports as required by the protocol, as well as the passage of new regulations required should there be changes to EU law.

His speech in Belfast comes just days after the UK and EU agreed to a “standstill” agreement on the protocol to provide breathing space for the two sides to discuss permanent fixes to the agreement. It was also timed to coincide with Mr Sefcovic embarking on a two-day visit in Northern Ireland.

Warning that the DUP would not tolerate an “indefinite” standstill and expected “urgent action” Sir Jeffrey said: “The time frame for resolving issues can be measured in weeks and not months or years.”

Should the two sides fail to deliver on these tests “within weeks” he warned that “the only option” would be for DUP ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive to resign. This would trigger a breakdown of the devolved government and force Assembly elections, with Sir Jeffrey adding: “We will also need to consider whether there is a need for an Assembly election to refresh our mandate if action is not taken to address and resolve the issues related to the protocol and its impact.”

The decision to pull out of the joint ministerial council, made up of Irish and Northern Irish ministers, also effectively suspends the DUP’S commitment to a key strand of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). However, Sir Jeffrey argued that the move was justified because the protocol, which has created a trade border down the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, had undermined another part of the GFA which promised to preserve east-west relations.

The major intervention is the culmination of months of building anger among unionists, who believe the protocol has weakened Northern Ireland’s place in the union and severely disrupted trade with Britain.