Who Will Fix the Northern Ireland Problem?

 

by Louise Mclean

For the past couple of years, Northern Ireland has been in limbo, due to the very restrictive rules of the Northern Ireland Protocol signed by Boris Johnson as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement legislation.  Currently the rules which affect trade with mainland Britain are still going through a 'grace period' due to end shortly. 

Over the past few months the Assembly in Stormont has been shut down by the Democratic Ulster Party, who refuse to allow it to operate until this has been sorted out. It has been effectively without an executive since February 2022.

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill was introduced on 13 June 2022 and has just gone through Parliament.  It would alter the wording and override parts of the Protocol affecting trade and it has yet to make its difficult passage through the pro-EU House of Lords.  It will not radically change the problems that need solving.

Brandon Lewis, the Northern Secretary, said that the Bill was designed to make the free flow of goods as easy between Northern Ireland and Britain, 'as from Great Yarmouth to Carlisle'.  Right now the problems are so bad, that many companies on mainland Britain are simply no longer sending their goods there, due to massive EU bureaucracy and paperwork.

Yesterday Lord David Trimble died. He had served as the First Minister of Northern Ireland and helped draft the Belfast Agreement (or Good Friday Agreement) in 1998, for which he received the Nobel Prize.  

Former Brexit Party MEP, Ben Habib has been involved in a lawsuit to overturn the Northern Ireland Protocol which he and Lord Trimble, who was a co-litigant, felt was a breach of the Belfast Agreement.  He says that there should have been cross community consent for the Protocol but this was in fact recently removed from the Northern Ireland Act 1998!  

They felt that the best possible solution was to have the NI Protocol completely nullified because it breaches the Belfast Agreement.  

Top politicians have all praised Lord Trimble and sent their condolences but many such as Tony Blair, being Europhiles, are not concerned that Northern Ireland remains under the power of the European Union, while the Protocol is in force.

In fact Nancy Pelosi came over recently to warn that there would be no trade deal with the USA if the Northern Ireland Protocol was changed in any way.  She does seem to rather exceed her role as Speaker of the US House of Representatives!

With Britain currently choosing its next Prime Minister, it is generally felt that top candidate, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, would be best placed to deal with the Northern Ireland problem because she brought forward the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. 

Unfortunately, she still believes it is possible to negotiate the Protocol wording with the European Union, who have proven to be totally intransigent in past negotiations. 

Northern Ireland has been a part of the United Kingdom since 1801. Without fixing the problems with trade as soon as possible, Northern Ireland is effectively still operating inside the European Union's Single Market.  While the rest of Britain left the European Union in January 2020 with the Brexit legislation, Northern Ireland was left behind and remains still firmly inside the EU!  

Will Parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol be Scrapped?

by Louise Mclean

Northern Ireland Parliament

In 2019 Boris Johnson accepted the Northern Ireland Protocol as being part of the Brexit legislation, eventually signing it into effect in January 2020.  While the rest of Britain left the EU, the Protocol meant Northern Ireland was left behind in the Single Market and under European Union law.  Here Lord David Frost explains the full history of the Protocol.

https://www.briefingsforbritain.co.uk/the-northern-ireland-protocol-how-we-got-here-and-what-should-happen-now/

In order to avoid a hard border between the North and South of Ireland, a customs border had to be created in the Irish Sea between Britain.  This has been totally unacceptable to the majority of people in NI, making goods coming from Britain too expensive to be exported, with many UK companies ceasing to export altogether.

So since Britain left in January 2020 the people of Northern Ireland have been effectively trapped in the European Union's Single Market.

As mentioned in a previous post, there seems to be a genuine push to create a United Ireland of the North and South, all of which will be in the European Union, with the South - Republic of Ireland being already in it.

This goes against the 1800 Act of the Union, which was the legal basis for incorporating Northern Ireland into the United Kingdom. There has been other legislation since then and more especially the Belfast Good Friday Agreement in 1998 (under Tony Blair's Government), which gives the people of NI a final say as to its future, in a referendum.

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/belfast-accord-fundamentally-alters-nature-of-north-s-place-in-the-union-1.150356

The above link explains the legislation and how it changed in 1973, (just after Britain joined the European Union), making the people of Northern Ireland sovereign and entitled to a vote if they want to break away from Britain, which would happen if the whole of Ireland were united. This may have laid the foundation for a United Ireland under the European Union.

The recent election which was held in Northern Ireland was won for the first time by the Republican Sinn Fein party, making it the largest party in the Stormont Assembly. Sinn Fein originated in the South of Ireland and historically fought for a united Ireland.

Therefore the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which was previously the leading party, now takes on the role of Deputy First Minister.  The two parties did not work well together in the past and Sinn Fein are very pro the European Union.

Sinn Fein have already announced that they do not want to scrap the Northern Ireland Protocol and are talking of giving the Northern Irish people a referendum for a United Ireland within the next five years.

Polls in Northern Ireland show that overall the people do not want to leave the United Kingdom, mainly for economic reasons.

However, since last week's election, the DUP, which advocates Northern Ireland remaining in Britain, is refusing to nominate ministers to form a new Executive until the problems with the Protocol are sorted out.  Under rules of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Sinn Fein cannot appoint their First Minister, without a DUP Deputy Minister and the DUP are refusing to cooperate until their demands for changes to the NI Protocol have been addressed.

Despite a recent debate in the UK Parliament to scrap the NI Protocol, the UK Northern Ireland Secretary, Brandon Lewis, said it would be better to negotiate with the European Union, which is a pointless exercise, when you look back at past endless negotiations that went nowhere!

The EU has indicated that it is not prepared to make any changes to Brexit legislation, which has already been signed into law and is unwilling to remove clauses relating to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Today Liz Truss, the British Foreign Secretary, has spoken to European Union leaders and given them an ultimatum after rejecting their recent proposals and the UK Attorney General has received legal advice that it could scrap aspects of the Protocol if it was causing social unrest.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-61417798

Ms. Truss says there has been an impasse in power sharing between the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein since the election, which cannot be improved without changes to the NI Protocol.  She says: 'Prices have risen, trade is being badly disrupted, and the people of Northern Ireland are subject to different laws and taxes to those over the Irish Sea (in mainland Britain), which has left them without an Executive and poses a threat to peace and stability'.  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/05/10/liz-truss-stands-firm-eu-threatens-trade-war/

Britain may need to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which allows for either party to suspend parts of it, if it is causing serious problems, such as 'diversion of trade' and 'societal difficulties', which would be legal justifications.

The EU is not happy about this and is making lots of threats, including cancelling the Brexit Trade deal, legal action, dispute procedures or tariffs.  

This is an ongoing situation and we will have to see if Boris Johnson and Liz Truss have the courage to take action.