Editorial: The Windsor Framework has already lost its shine, but it has now been finalised

(Scroll down for letters from Nigel Dodds and Kate Hoey, and an article by haulier Paul Jackson)

The UK-EU deal over Northern Ireland has been signed off formally. Most informed pundits think that an agreement was reached in outline months ago. Most informed unionists think that the UK was never negotiating seriously on the primacy of EU law in Northern Ireland. Thus unionist disappointment over the outcome is not entirely a surprise to anyone who has been following things closely.

London’s delight at the prospect of being able to join the Horizon science and research programme shows that there have been other factors in play. Indeed, the outcome could have been worse for NI. A range of factors have weakened the UK’s position since 2016, and particularly since 2020, including the Covid pandemic, the turmoil within the Conservative Party, the financial problems caused by high debt and high inflation, and latterly the need to focus on massive international matters such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In some respects though the latter has given London leverage, with Britain currently in America’s good books as a reliable security ally at a time of great global uncertainty. So unionists should never lose sight of the fact that a post Windsor Framework protocol is considerably better than a fully implemented original one.

At the same time, the shine on the framework has already come off and the possible permanence of an Irish Sea trade border is becoming clearer. This is a huge challenge for the DUP, particularly now that the UUP is focusing on the opportunities. But there is no easy route back to Stormont for the DUP. An immediate difficulty is the coming visit of President Biden. It would look bad for unionists to sit sourly on the sidelines, but at the same time they cannot just smile along as if America’s partisan role in the establishment of an internal UK border never happened.

Nigel Dodds: It turns out Stormont brake is unworkableKate Hoey: I urge Doug Beattie to stand with us again in a joint unionist demand

Ben Lowry: It has been a winding route to defeat for unionists over the Irish Sea border

Haulier Paul Jackson: Far from getting rid of the Irish Sea border, the framework reinforces it