Pelosi’s comments on Protocol criticised by DUP leader
AN intervention by US Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a row over the Northern Ireland Protocol has been slammed by the DUP leader as “unhelpful”.
Ms Pelosi said the US Congress will not support a free trade agreement with the UK if the government persists with “deeply concerning” plans to “unilaterally discard” the protocol.
In a strongly worded intervention, Ms Pelosi urged the UK and the EU to continue negotiations on the post-Brexit trade arrangements to uphold peace in the region.
The congresswoman said in a statement: “The Good Friday Accords are the bedrock of peace in Northern Ireland and a beacon of hope for the entire world.
“Ensuring there remains no physical border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland is absolutely necessary for upholding this landmark agreement, which has transformed Northern Ireland.”
The comments from Ms Pelosi are a reminder of the ongoing interest in Northern Ireland at the highest levels in Washington, amid political instability following the Assembly election.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is currently blocking the re-establishment of Stormont’s power-sharing institutions in protest at the protocol, which has created economic barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Yesterday afternoon DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson described Ms Pelosi’s contribution as “entirely unhelpful”.
“I noted that Speaker Pelosi talked about the lack of bipartisan approach or agreement on what the UK Government are doing,” he said.
“The problem for Speaker Pelosi is that there is not bipartisan or cross-community support for the protocol in Northern Ireland, it is undermining the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, it is undermining the political institutions that were established under that agreement, it undermines the principle of consent.
“You cannot have powersharing without consensus in Northern Ireland so the bipartisanship or the consensus that is required is not won in the US Congress, it’s won in the Northern Ireland Assembly and I would urge Speaker Pelosi to understand that because I think that her contributions are entirely unhelpful, offer no solution.”