Joint Authority Northern Ireland: NIO minister speaks out to make clear that joint authority is 'fundamentally inconsistent' with the Good Friday Agreement

Lord Caine made the point after the News Letter reported on Wednesday and Thursday that the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) had issued a neutral statement on the question.

The NIO was responding to calls for some form of joint authority by the Alliance Party, Sinn Fein, SDLP and the Irish Taoiseach.

Clarifying the matter on Twitter on Thursday night Lord Caine said: "The 1998 Agreement provides a democratic mechanism for constitutional change should that be the wish of a majority. It does not provide that one of the options for change is Joint Authority.

"Inconvenient facts for some. 1998 Belfast Agreement provides for two constitutional options for Northern Ireland: it is either fully part of the United Kingdom or fully part of a United Ireland. There is no third option in which NI is somehow half in each. NI is not some kind of hybrid state.

"It follows therefore that any form of so-called 'Joint Authority' over NI between London and Dublin would be fundamentally inconsistent with the 1998 Agreement and the principle of consent at its heart."

Lord Caine was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office on 5 November 2021.

He has been a Conservative member of the House of Lords since 2016 and is a former special adviser to six Secretaries of State for Northern Ireland.

On Thursday morning UUP Good Friday Agreement negotiator Lord Empey told the News Letter that the NIO has "no institutional memory" of the peace process and that its failure to openly oppose joint authority was "a very high risk strategy and very dangerous".

He also said it has been "reckless" of the UK not to have been proactive in resolving unionist concerns about the Northern Ireland Protocol over a prolong period.

At 6pm on Thursday the NIO responded to him, saying: "Joint authority is not being considered. The UK Government is absolutely clear that the consent principle governs the constitutional position of Northern Ireland. We will not countenance any arrangements that are inconsistent with that principle."

This story will be updated today.

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Joint Authority Northern Ireland: Good Friday Agreement negotiator warns NIO tactic is 'very dangerous'