By all means blame Brexiteer unionists for bringing the Protocol on themselves – but it has still left the Good Friday Agreement in tatters

Many Unionists would be willing to concede that John Hume was more consistent that most political leaders of his era in opposing violence.

And many historians will likely judge the various compromises that made the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) possible to be more a product of SDLP thinking than any of the other political parties.

While some SDLP thinkers can certainly claim their fair share of credit for helping NI move on from the Troubles, this contribution has in recent years lead to a tendency within constitutional nationalism – including the Dublin government – to consider the GFA to be their own personal property rather than a joint project between two rival communities.

Something like 55% of Unionists seem to have voted for the GFA and many unionists who voted no nevertheless accepted the outcome.

Nowhere in the referendum did it say that only those who voted in favour of the agreement were entitled to the protections it claimed to offer.

Nationalist and Republican leaders have every right to defend their community’s interests and to support the Protocol if they wish.

But... if you are going to claim that Unionist ministers failing to cooperate with North-South bodies is a breach of one of three essential strands of the GFA, then you cannot reasonably argue that the NI Protocol has not completely torn to pieces the East-West strand of that agreement.

By all means argue that some Unionists brought this on themselves by supporting Brexit if you wish.

But you cannot claim the Protocol is without consequences for the GFA. It clearly disrupts the delicate balance that made the GFA structures workable and no Unionist should prop them up after the Assembly election until this balance has been restored.

RG McDowell, Belfast BT5

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