Poots pledge: We are now in the end-game of stopping Irish Sea border checks

The farming minister tonight told the News Letter that, as far as inspections of goods entering the Province from Great Britain go, we are now in the “endgame” stage.

Mr Poots set a plan in motion earlier this month which aims to exploit a legal avenue for bringing the inspections which make up the Irish Sea border to a close.

The plan hit the headlines in early January when it was set out in a dossier from Unionist Voice, a group of anonymous lawyers and academics, organised by loyalist activist Jamie Bryson.

The basic idea was as follows: the wording of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the Good Friday Agreement itself obliges the whole Executive to debate anything which is “significant or controversial” or which cuts across the roles of two or more ministers.

Unionists argue that the checks being done at the Irish Sea border tick both of these boxes, and as such they require the agreement of the whole 12-minister multi-party Executive – or else they are actually illegal.

Mr Poots tried to put the matter on the agenda of the Executive meeting on Thursday, but Sinn Fein blocked it.

Mr Poots can now argue that he has tried to fulfil the law by bringing the matter to the Executive, but the fact he has been thwarted in his attempt means that no consent has been sought for the border checks – ergo, they need to stop.

First Minister Paul Givan confirmed after Thursday’s Executive meeting that everything had gone according to plan, and therefore Mr Poots intends to halt port checks – but was not clear exactly when this will happen.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, the DUP set February 21 as a fresh deadline for when it wants to see progress in negotiations with the EU over the NI Protocol.

Asked why he is not giving the order to stop the checks right away, Mr Poots tonight told the News Letter: “Because when I do this thing, I want to have it done in a way which is standing.

“Therefore I’ve been in discussions with senior counsel today and I will receive a document in the middle of next week from counsel on this matter. I want to dot my ‘i’s and cross my ‘t’s.”

Assuming the barristers’ advise him that he is “following good legal process”, Mr Poots said: “Then I act.”

It was put to Mr Poots that DUP deadlines have been allowed to drift before, such as with Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s repeated threats to walk out of Stormont unless concrete action was taken to kill off the NI Protocol.

Asked if his ‘halt order’ could be pushed back indefinately too, he said: “No. It’ll not. It’ll not. We’re in the end-game of this...

“The timeframe is as anticipated. You’ll note the timeframe I’d set was around the end of January.

“So this is not one that’s going to slip away in any significant way.”

As to what rivals – particularly Sinn Fein may do once he stops the checks, he said simply: “It’s up to others how they respond.”

Poots pledge: We are now in the end-game of stopping Irish Sea border checks – I will not let this slip away