Conditions in place for ‘rapid conclusion’ to talks on NI protocol

Conditions are in place for a rapid conclusion to discussions between the EU and UK on the Northern Ireland protocol if participants “are sincere” in their approach, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.

He described Brexit as destructive for politics in Northern Ireland and said that "unfortunately, enormous amounts of time have been wasted by avoidable disputes and a willingness to regularly collapse the democratically-legitimate institutions of the [Belfast] Agreement".

The priority should be addressing the issues of entrenched poverty, housing supply, improving public services job creation, he said.

“However the sad reality is that Brexit continues to be destructive of being able to focus on these issues.”

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Speaking at the annual Fianna Fáil Wolfe Tone commemoration in Bodenstown, Co Kildare, Mr Martin acknowledged that the operation of the protocol had caused some issues but the EU had addressed this.

In negotiations the EU had proposed “a generous and comprehensive set of changes to how goods are handled” between Northern Ireland and Britain.

“These changes address the substantive issues raised in Northern Ireland earlier this year. There is an increasingly obvious fact – anyone who is operating in good faith and who wants to find a solution will acknowledge that these proposals are the basis for a rapid conclusion to discussions.”

The British government has however repeatedly rejected the EU’s proposals because over the role of the European Court of Justice in dispute mechanisms.

On Saturday British prime minister Boris Johnson said that “progress must be achieved soon” in the protocol negotiations and a rapid fix was needed to prevent more disruption in Northern Ireland.

Mr Martin stressed that “absolutely nothing in the protocol agreed by the EU and the UK infringes on the principles of the [Belfast] Agreement. The principle of consent is as rock solid as before”.

Defence of EU

Defending the EU’s approach he said it has been from the very first moment, the strongest, most sincere and most consistent supporter of the agreement.

“No one has the right to lecture the European Union about protecting an agreement which it has done so much to nurture.

“It has been suggested that there are those who simply have no intention of allowing Brexit to fade as a day to day political issue and that they have no intention of honouring agreements which respect the right of the European Union to regulate and protect its own internal market.

“Because if it was, it would be both reckless and destructive – causing damage which history would record as benefiting no one and causing profound damage.”

Mr Martin added that “the work we have shared with various British governments in achieving peace and creating a new departure remains one of the greatest achievements in the history of democracy on these islands.”

And he warned that “respecting the protocol, respecting the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland and implementing the proposed major changes to free-up east/west trade is the only way to protect what has been achieved in moving from our darkest days to a new beginning”.

The protocol aims to avoid a hard border in Ireland and allows Northern Ireland to trade freely with both the EU and Britain.