Leo Varadkar gets an easy interview on BBC Northern Ireland

The recent interview given by Leo Varadkar to BBC NI, which spanned two programmes, offered an opportunity for the interviewer to challenge Mr Varadkar’s role in creating the current mess we find ourselves in.

Mr Varadkar accused the UK government of not being even handed, despite Boris Johnson having created a border in his own country and continuing to allow Irish goods and people to have full access to the UK.

Unfortunately, rather than challenge Mr Varadkar’s assertions of UK foul play the interviewer frequently asked questions that seemed to encourage him to further develop his accusations.

The Irish government has pursued an aggressive nationalist agenda throughout the negotiations, this has aligned with the EU desire to punish the UK for Brexit to ensure such a situation does not arise elsewhere.

These aims have been ably facilitated by Sinn Fein, SDLP and Alliance.

The people of Northern Ireland’s needs are of no consequence in the pursuit of these aims.

Trust in the assurances provided by the Good Friday Agreement has been torn apart.

Trade within the UK has been severely disrupted causing extra cost and less product availability in NI, this has been mirrored by an increasing alignment with the Republic which has the highest food prices in the eurozone apart from Switzerland.

The NI government no longer functions and unionist politics could well realign against the Good Friday Agreement. Under the Protocol, Northern Ireland will be subject to EU bureaucracy with no input from local politicians.

These issues will all have very real long-term consequences for all the people of NI.

The BBC is the national broadcaster and should therefore seek to explore the concerns of all citizens.

James Martin, Dromore, Co Down