DUP slam 'hollow threats' on joint authority - as UUP say government have outlined increased Dublin role

Gavin Robinson MP said “Sir Robert Buckland seems to be confused. It’s not often he is wrong, but on this he is.

“The Republic of Ireland has no legal basis for governing Northern Ireland. Such a step would be a further breach of the Belfast and successor agreements.

“It is the arrangements flowing from the NI Protocol alone that are stopping the formation of an Executive. We are focused on getting this right and restoring the balance. We will not be distracted by Sir Robert’s confused viewpoint.

“Rather than issue hollow threats about some version of Joint Authority, Sir Robert and his colleagues would be better to focus on restoring Northern Ireland’s place within the U.K. Internal Market.

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie has told the News Letter a role for Dublin was made clear to him by the Secretary of State last month.

Mr Beattie said: “Our position has always been clear. We do not support the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework is not the starting point we would have wished for. We did not support it, we did not negotiate it, we did not put Northern Ireland in this position.

"Yet we believe we should be back in government to make Northern Ireland work. That means maximising the opportunities of the framework while dealing with its many issues. No devolved government means that Ireland will have an increased say in what happens in Northern Ireland via the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference.

“The increased consultative role of the Irish Republic on devolved issues, if we do not get Stormont up and running, was clearly outlined to me by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when I met with him earlier this month.

"That will mean, if Sinn Fein forms the next government in Ireland, they will have a say in what happens in Northern Ireland while locally elected Unionist politicians do not. This is simply not acceptable and is a consequence of the present boycott.”