Good Friday Agreement negotiator ‘astonished’ at NI Protocol stance of US, UK and EU, saying they misunderstand the accord

One of the key unionist negotiators behind the Belfast Agreement last night said that if the document had been set out as interpreted now by the US government and others it would never have been supported by the more than 70% of voters who voted for it in 1998.
Lord Empey was a key negotiator behind the 1998 Belfast AgreementLord Empey was a key negotiator behind the 1998 Belfast Agreement
Lord Empey was a key negotiator behind the 1998 Belfast Agreement

Lord Empey, who headed up David Trimble’s team negotiating strand one of the three-stranded accord, said he was deeply disappointed at the stance of Joe Biden’s administration, something which he said was a return to the 1980s.

The former Ulster Unionist leader told the News Letter: “What astonishes me consistently is that the UK government, the EU, and now the American administration all say they support the agreement, but they fail to consult with those of us who negotiated the agreement.”

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Lord Empey, who is an applicant in one of several legal challenges to the NI Protocol, said that the section of the agreement which he was involved in negotiating related to Stormont’s carefully-crafted consent mechanisms, something he said had now been removed for the vote on the protocol – which will happen on a simple majority, making it harder for unionism to vote down the Irish Sea border at the first opportunity in 2024.

“It was only by having these mechanisms to protect each section of the community that it was possible to get buy-in for the agreement – the one common denominator at all times was opposition to majoritarianism.”

Lord Empey, who supported the campaign to remain in the EU, said that what was happening now was polarising Northern Ireland

”One thing Bill Clinton’s administration did was he brought to an end the one stop shop attitude of the US ... to see Ireland united. Clinton at least moved Irish America away from the one dimension and did recognise that there was more than a single dimension ... I know President Biden’s antecedents are Irish, I understand how he feels, but there has to be balance and the agreement is a balancing act.

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“The agreement hangs on the concept that we have differing allegiances and those have to be treated with respect – that everyone has a hand on the wheel and a hand on the brake.

“I’m disappointed, because I thought we’d moved on from those days. You have to go back to the 1980s and early 1990s when you’d Fr McManus and people like that running around beating the united Ireland drum in the US ... It’s disappointing if they’re going back in that direction.

“That’s the attitude of the past – of the 1970s and 1980s. I sincerely hope we’re not going back to that.”

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