Donaldson defends NI access to both markets as unionist leaders set out their 2024 agenda in New Year messages

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has told members in his New Year message that he wants to restore Northern Ireland’s place in the UK market – but also retain access to the EU market.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has defended the principle of Northern Ireland having access to both the UK and EU markets in his New Year message - arguing that it would not lead to an all-Ireland economy as critics have suggested. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA WireDUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has defended the principle of Northern Ireland having access to both the UK and EU markets in his New Year message - arguing that it would not lead to an all-Ireland economy as critics have suggested. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has defended the principle of Northern Ireland having access to both the UK and EU markets in his New Year message - arguing that it would not lead to an all-Ireland economy as critics have suggested. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
By David Thompson
Published 30th Dec 2023, 00:00 BST

Meanwhile, the UUP leader Doug Beattie says the absence of a deal to restore Stormont will give a Dublin greater say in Northern Ireland – and Jim Allister has invoked the Ulster Covenant as he urges unionists to stay out of Stormont and make equal citizenship within the UK their core mission.

The leaders have been setting out their positions ahead of the New Year as the impasse over the Irish Sea border continues.

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Sir Jeffrey told DUP members: “2024 is likely to be another hectic year. This is the year we want to see our negotiations successfully concluded and the UK Government implement actions that will see Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom restored and the harm caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol erased so that we can move forward together.

"This means safeguarding our place in the U.K. internal market both now and for the future, whilst retaining our access to the EU single market. “These objectives are not mutually exclusive, nor do they lead to the creation of an all-island economy.

"Our clear mission remains to uphold the integrity of the Union, within which we can make Northern Ireland prosper and succeed. The Government knows what needs to be done to right the wrongs of what was imposed upon Northern Ireland without consent.”

UUP boss Doug Beattie said that the DUP’s boycott of the institutions cannot wait for a Labour government because public services will continue to suffer. He also said that whether Labour or the Conservatives win the next general election the outcome will be the same – saying it will mean “closer alignment between the United Kingdom and the European Union”.

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He added: "The negotiations between the United Kingdom Government and the DUP are over. That doesn't mean they have stopped talking but it does mean the Governments final offer is on the table. It is now for the DUP to say yes or no to allow us to prepare for what comes next.

Mr Beattie said a ‘yes’ from the DUP would allow funds to be released for public services – and argued that a ‘no’ would see the Windsor Framework continue with no “safeguards” and greater Dublin involvement.

However, TUV leader Jim Allister says unionists should be guided by their founding fathers who rallied around a demand for equal citizenship during the Home Rule crisis – and says they must take the political long view and not rush back to Stormont next year.

The North Antrim MLA said unionists should argue for “equal citizenship in being governed only by British laws and British courts and equal citizenship of equal trading rights with no partitioning internal border. Demanding and settling only for equal citizenship is the antidote to the poison of the Protocol, because in every way it is our equal citizenship in the U.K. that the Protocol has destroyed.

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“It is no coincidence that ‘equal citizenship’ was the demand of the founding fathers of unionism in their day of threatened calamity.

“May 2024 be the year when unionism rediscovers and holds to its core values”, he said.

Related topics:Jeffrey DonaldsonDoug BeattieJim AllisterNorthern IrelandLabourDUPUK GovernmentUUP

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