Any renegotiation of Belfast Agreement could backfire on unionists, warns Lord Empey

​The Ulster Unionist peer said a proposal from DUP MP Ian Paisley – to consider a renegotiation around already agreed issues such as the size of majority required in any future border poll – must be handled with great care.

“Alliance want reform as well, as they want to bypass the Unionist and Nationalist designations to suit themselves,” Lord Empey said.

“The Agreement has provision for review, so there is nothing wrong in looking at things after 25 years. But the Agreement has already been amended at the request of the DUP at St Andrews.

"The net effect of that amendment was to ensure the emergence of Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill as First Minister elect.

"Had the Agreement been left as it was negotiated by UUP and endorsed by a referendum, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson would be First Minister elect.”

Lord Empey said that while he could understand a call for a move beyond a 50 plus one majority, republicans and the Irish Government could in turn push for a “fixed date for polls to be called.

He also said that a negotiated reduction in the number of Assembly seats, from six to five in each constituency in 2016, resulted in unionists losing 16 of the 18 fewer seats.

“Again, a change promoted by unionists backfired and threw away a unionist majority in the Assembly,” Lord Empey said.

“So, while people are rightly frustrated by the current boycott of Stormont and the failure of the Assembly to do any business in the middle of an economic and financial crisis, unionism needs to think carefully about next moves.

"Personally, I think a unionist boycott of Stormont, which was a tactic previously used by Sinn Fein, is a mistake. Holding out for some legislative trinket from Chris Heaton-Harris won't bypass the Windsor Framework nor correct the constitutional damage caused by the [Northern Ireland] Protocol.

"All this is down to an ill thought out Brexit. It's going to take quite a while to fix,” Lord Empey added.