Irish government confirms Bryson meeting after revelation Jeffrey Donaldson sent him to Dublin to meet EU diplomats
The Irish government has confirmed that it met with Jamie Bryson days before the Windsor Framework was announced, after the loyalist campaigner was authorised by Jeffrey Donaldson to outline the DUP and unionist position to EU diplomats.
The meeting happened on February 21 2023 in a Dublin hotel, and involved discussions with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and a subsequent dinner with senior figures from seven EU countries which Irish officials also attended.
The News Letter understands the main meeting lasted for a number of hours. Dublin confirmed to the BBC’s Nolan Show on Friday that it had taken place.
Irish officials say they were asked by an NGO “to meet with Jamie Bryson during a visit by him to Dublin” and that departmental officials had a “short” meeting with him.
When reports of the meeting between Mr Bryson, EU diplomats and the Irish government were broadcast by the programme in 2023, the DUP denied it.
One senior source laughed off the idea that “that man” would be sent to represent the DUP.
Now, the DUP says Jeffrey Donaldson “led a double and duplicitous life” – and its political positions were taken through party structures rather than any individual.
The relationship between the paedophile former MP and Mr Bryson broke down spectacularly some time before Donaldson was arrested, charged and convicted over child sex crimes.
The pair fell out over Donaldson’s attempts to return to Stormont without the removal of the Irish Sea border – which was one of the party’s seven tests for such a return.
The row culminated in a DUP member wearing a wire to a crunch party executive, allowing Mr Bryson to give live updates from the private meeting on social media in a hugely embarrassing episode for Donaldson.
The News Letter understands Donaldson sent Mr Bryson to meet EU representatives in Dublin, knowing he would outline a more hard-line position on the Irish Sea border than his own negotiators were during critical talks around the Windsor Framework.
Speaking to the Nolan Show, Mr Bryson said he was talking to Donaldson “on a daily basis” about the DUP’s position on issues relating to the Northern Ireland Protocol and the return to Stormont.