You can’t back the Belfast Agreement then just disregard it over the Protocol

Well said Lord David Trimble!

His important comment – “it grieves me now that the arrangements which I and others gave so much to achieve are in danger of collapsing as a result of the imposition of the Northern Ireland Protocol” – cannot fall on deaf ears in our community.

He would be the first to admit that the efforts and sacrifices both of himself and John Hume were shared by many who put their necks on the line for lasting peace.

As one of the many original moderates, none that I know who battled for the Belfast Agreement regret their stance.

None have changed their attitude. But most could be excused cursing under their breath at the length some have gone to deny a politically-settled community working together in a genuine partnership.

When it comes to blame, Trimble and Hume are exonerated. The same cannot be said for the Irish government and the EU who, by their behaviour, have given oxygen to the Sinn Fein process of dismantling the Agreement.

How Mary Lou McDonald can without a red face pretend to be a custodian of the Agreement, when her party rolled out a scorched earth campaign against it, is beyond comprehension.

It is time that the newly elected MLAs and their respective party leaders, in seeking to accommodate diversity, take ownership of the Agreement and all it represents.

They cannot give tacit support for the Agreement, and at the same time set it aside for the implementation of the NI Protocol.

When it comes to government by the protocol and not consent, the decision has to be to call an end to the charade.

David McNarry, former UUP MLA and ex-leader of UKIP in Northern Ireland

Owen Polley: Brace yourselves for full-on barrage of lies and hysteria over the Protocol in the weeks ahead

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