Peter Robinson: Any unionist praising the Good Friday Agreement is a heretic – and the EU only cares about the bits republicans like

I had thought that the unionist revisionism at the Ulster Unionist conference would have been worth a line or two. Doug Beattie’s lauding of the Belfast Agreement, and referring to the St Andrews Agreement as having made Frankenstein changes to it, was so ludicrous that it cried out for comment, mockery, and a little whimsy.

It was clearly voiced in order to be swallowed by the open-mouthed admirers at the conference and any dotty amnesiacs outside, but surely he could not have thought that time had erased the unionist community’s recollection of the damaging deal his party had done in 1998.

It is heresy for any unionist, especially with the benefit of hindsight, to praise an agreement that threw the jail gates open for terrorists to flood out, destroyed the RUC, allowed Sinn Fein into government while republicans held on to their bombs and guns, continued murdering, relentlessly persisted with their criminality, while refusing to support the police or recognise the authority of the courts.

Meanwhile the Ulster Unionist Party agreed that Sinn Fein ministers could be given unaccountable power in government departments – capable of taking decisions without the assembly or executive being able to stop them.

This is the deal the UUP want to return to.

As for the St Andrews Agreement, it required an end to all violence and decommissioning of illegal weapons, as well as support for the police and recognition of the courts as a prerequisite for entering the executive, and no decision could be taken by any minister without executive approval if it is controversial. Readers can choose which agreement was the “monster”.

However, events have overtaken the mighty Doug’s conference damp squib.

The EU has provided us with a protocol upgrade. Yes, it is better than their first offering, but that benchmark is not one that anybody would feel comfortable to use.

What gets me most is the irrational political prejudice and overbearing haughtiness of the EU who think that it is a greater priority to ensure there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland than between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom of which we are part.

When EU Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič says the EU’s top priority is to make sure the gains of the Good Friday Agreement are protected, he only means those parts of the agreement that republicans want to protect.

The EU completely ignores the constitutional, legal, and democratic implications of the protocol and seems to think it is only the trading element of the protocol that needs to be considered.

Even in that narrow perspective they fall short. If the problem was limited to the costly compliance requirements and time-consuming checking of goods within the United Kingdom the answer is the removal of those checks, not a reduction in their number.

One insightful aspect of the EU proposals is their insistence that in return for the scaled-back checking regime there should be safeguards implemented to provide assurance that products said to be destined for Northern Ireland do not end up crossing the border into the Republic.

Of course, we should do so. Why would we not? However, if we can, and do, provide those safeguards then there can be no legitimate reason why there should be checks on any goods which have an end destination within Northern Ireland.

The only requirement should be to regulate the through-traffic of goods from GB to RoI.

I am unimpressed by the grovelling endorsement of the EU proposals by the SDLP, Alliance and Sinn Fein.

These parties welcomed the protocol in its original form and there would have been no change if it had been left to them.

They are content to maintain the denial of democratic accountability for laws that will be made by the EU and imposed in Northern Ireland. They accept that the EU should be both advocate and judge in its own cause when there is a dispute about trading matters.

They endorse the constitutional sleight of hand that declares Great Britain to be a “third country” in relation to Northern Ireland trade and they applaud maintaining checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

While these proposals fall short, we should acknowledge that the EU has moved away from its “not an inch” posture adopted after the protocol was announced.

There is much work to be done and much more movement will be required. The EU will need to go back to the drawing board if they want to produce arrangements that can gain unionist support.

I suspect that it still might need the triggering of Article 16 to concentrate minds sufficiently to achieve that goal.

Other opinion articles below and beneath that information on how to subscribe to the News Letter:

Lord Hannan: Europhile fanatics have nothing to say about Protocol except ‘yah-boo-sucks!’

Samuel Morrison: It’s absurd to say that defending the Stormont status quo equals defending democracy

Jeff Dudgeon to European human rights commissioner: You attack the UK for this amnesty but not for past ones that benefitted terrorists — why not?

• Esmond Birine: The role of European Court in NI is an important matter, not just a legal technicality

• Ruth Dudley Edwards Oct 12: SF is the driving force in the Irish demonisation of Israel

• Ministers: We can assure you that Fathers Reid and Reynolds were not IRA sympathisers

• Owen Polley Oct 11: Stormont has repeatedly let down health workers by ducking reform

• Henry McDonald Oct 9: Colm Toibin spurns misty-eyed guff about a ‘New Ireland’

• Ben Lowry Oct 9: Echoes of 2019, as Boris Johnson fails to proclaim his unionism in speech

• Peter Robinson Oct 1: Doug Beattie should say to where he wants UUP voters to transfer

• Peter Robinson September 17: The party of Edward Carson and James Craig will now just lobby against the Northern Ireland Protocol

• Peter Robinson September 3: The Protocol will spread like a cancer through the blood and bones of the Union unless it is removed

• Peter Robinson August 20: We in Northern Ireland should understand the betrayal of the Afghan people

• Peter Robinson August 6: Hospitality has no enthusiasm for vaccine passports but they are better than being shut

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdowns having had a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Ireland and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Visit www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Ben Lowry

Editor