Irish Sea Border: Orange Order's Mervyn Gibson says Sir Jeffrey's deal must be right - and the green lane must go

Mr Gibson says he will expect any deal to “do away with the green lane in the Irish Sea border. If there’s a red lane for stuff going to Europe, there’s never been an issue with that. And stop everybody being subject to European law. Now if you deal with Europe then you’re subject to European law. There’s not a change – that’s been asked since they left Stormont. The ask has been the same. To be honest, that’s the deal he needs to get.”

The Orange leader says he understands changes around the red lane may also be involved in a proposed deal.

He says Sir Jeffrey hasn’t got the final deal with the government yet, but believes it is close. He believes he will go to the party first, get their reaction – and then announce the deal so that people can make up their own minds.

Last night Mr Gibson posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Mystic Meg commentators know what’s in it, not in it. Decide when published. Read it, ask questions. Decide what’s good for NI not on what others think”.

The News Letter asked him how the fundamentals of the Windsor Framework couldn’t still be in place – as the EU has said they are not involved in the talks – which they regard as a domestic matter. He said he believes there would need to be some form of agreement with Europe over parts of the deal – and Europe would need to “reinterpret” certain aspects of it.

“That doesn’t mean they need to change regulations and get into full negotiations. Europe has said they won’t renegotiate it and that’s fair enough. But would they listen to ‘we might need to do this, change this round, call this something else’? They’re not involved in negotiations no, but I imagine there’s conversations going on with them. They couldn’t say they were involved in negotiations – which they weren’t. But we need something, and Europe needs to know what it is”, the Grand Secretary said.

Mr Gibson says a deal is about more than the timing – that the deal itself has to be right: “The point is they [the DUP] are finalising the deal. And it’s the deal that will decide whether they will go in. If he [Sir Jeffrey] doesn’t get the deal – his party won’t go back in anyway”.

He added: “I think the vast majority of unionists would be happy to go back in if the deal’s right – or close. There’d need to be significant changes, but it doesn’t mean legislation with Europe necessarily”. He believes it can be done via internal UK legislation with Europe kept abreast of matters. He says unionists should examine any deal and see how far the DUP have been able to move the arrangements from the Windsor Framework.

"I think the green lane will have to go. As long as there’s unfettered access to the United Kingdom, and they don’t have customs coming from the mainland – and there’s not a lane I have to go down called the green lane. Let’s see what they come up with. No doubt there will be a bit of smoke and mirrors, but there needs to be a bit of substance to it as well”, he said.

Mr Gibson believes that after the almost two year boycott of the institutions – any deal has to be a win for unionism.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson is believed to be confident that he can secure support within the ruling body of his party for a return to power-sharing.

The News Letter understands that he will be consulting with unionist and loyalist groups about a restoration of Stormont, amid the ongoing divisions among his colleagues.

The party officers, who are the most powerful members of the DUP, met yesterday at an undisclosed location, where they are believed to have been divided on as to the way forward.

In a statement yesterday evening, a DUP spokesperson said: “We understand that there has been considerable interest in our meeting today. We will not give a running commentary on our position, save to say, we will continue to engage with the government.”

The loyalist and anti-protocol activist Jamie Bryson – who has shared stages with unionist leaders over the issue – says that the Windsor Framework’s green lane can be ‘interpreted away’.

Mr Bryson told the News Letter: “Mervyn is a friend and I have great respect for his view, which is always considered and a worthwhile contribution to the debate. I am also conscious that sometimes brief comments, particularly around what is on its face a rather complex issue, do not reflect the totality of one’s view.

“That being said, I do have to respectfully differ on the suggestion as to what would amount to a solution.

“It seems to fail to appreciate that the Protocol and Framework have direct effect in domestic law. More than that, they have supremacy due to section 7A of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. That means section 7A acts as a conduit pipe to give the provisions of the international treaty the force of domestic law.

“Therefore, other than disapplying section 7A and thus disavowing the Protocol and Framework, and breaching the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, there is no mechanism in domestic law to do anything of substance. The UK Government could pass legislation with whatever patriotic language it wanted, unless this legislation confronted section 7A it would be about as worthless as spraying its provisions on a wall.

“Moreover, there is no mechanism to ‘interpret’ the green lane away. It is enshrined via section 7A due to Articles 7-9 of the Windsor Framework found in the joint-committee decision 01/2023.

“Therefore, unfortunately, that which Mervyn was setting out simply wouldn’t be a solution as a matter of law, unless the UK Government are prepared to do what they always should have done and take the nuclear option of stripping out the pernicious effect of section 7A. There is no indication they will do anything of the sort.

“That provides a complete answer as to whether any deal will do anything of substance.”