New concerns over Northern Ireland Protocol after thaw in Dublin-London relations

The new secretary of state Chris Heaton-Harris met Simon Coveney at Hillsbourgh Castle in a gathering that seemed to be arranged at short notice on Tuesday.

Mr Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister and someone who is seen as one of the ‘greener’ Irish ministers of recent times, said that there had been a positive change of tone from the UK, after a long period of strained politics over the Irish Sea border.

The News Letter asked Mr Heaton-Harris if this sudden warming of relations represented a retreat from the controversial protocol bill – which seeks to overhaul the internal Great Britain-NI trade barrier and which the DUP sees as essential to the resumption of Stormont.

Mr Heaton-Harris said that it did not, and that they remained committed to the bill, but again insisted – as he did in these pages on Tuesday – that he was obliged to call a Stormont election after October 28 if the impasse at the assembly was not resolved.

The DUP reacted to the meeting by saying its terms for the resumption of power-sharing were unchanged. The party’s leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: “The secretary of state and the Republic of Ireland’s foreign minister should focus on replacing the protocol with arrangements which unionists can support.”

Mr Coveney said “the messages coming from London now as quite different from the messages we were getting a few months ago”.

Asked if this had implications for the protocol bill, Mr Heaton-Harris said no, it “is still passing through [parliament]”.

Mr Coveney had said after the Hillsborough breakfast talks that “from an EU perspective they don’t want this issue to drag on. The last thing the EU wants to be doing is taking the British government to court”.

In apparent confirmation that the meeting between the two ministers had been upbeat, Mr Heaton-Harris nodded through much of what the Irish foreign minister said in a press conference afterwards.

Mr Coveney said that “the aftermath of Brexit and the protocol issue has really been a source of unnecessary tension that we need to move beyond and I think that everybody wants to move into that space”.

He continued to say that “from our perspective we see the messages coming from London now as quite different from the messages we were getting a few months ago.

“We do believe that there is a willingness now for an honest and open serious dialogue around trying to put these issues to rest in a way that responds to legitimate concerns, primarily in Northern Ireland actually”.

But, he said, such willingness “is still a step away from actually agreeing what those compromises are, because that’s not easy, if it was it would have been resolved many months ago”.

The News Letter grilled Mr Heaton-Harris on the possible consequences for the Irish Sea border of these “new signals”.

He said that the protocol bill “is still passing through its stages in – it goes to the Lords next – and it will, you know, we want to negotiate a settlement here without a shadow of a doubt ... But the bill will still go through its processes if that doesn’t work”.

The two ministers also said they had discussed how to restore Stormont and legislation on dealing with the legacy of the Troubles.

Mr Heaton-Harris said: “Our joint top priority is doing everything we can to ensure an executive is re-established before an election has to be called.”

Sir Jeffrey said: “The protocol is driving up the cost of bringing goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. It is making our roads, schools, hospitals, and houses more expensive to build because of a 25% tariff on steel. It is placing our human and veterinary medicine supplies at risk. It is undermining the Union and undermining the foundational stones of devolution.

“The secretary of state and the Republic of Ireland’s foreign minister should focus on replacing the protocol with arrangements which unionists can support. This would recognise that we operate power-sharing in Northern Ireland rather than majority rule.

“Not one unionist MLA or MP supports the protocol. There were over two years of negotiations, yet the EU failed to recognise the flaws of the protocol or change their negotiating mandate. Repeatedly telling us ‘there will be no renegotiation’.

“I would love to see a negotiated outcome but there appears to be little interest in either Brussels or Dublin to recognise the concerns of unionists.”

He called on the government to “expedite” passage of the protocol bill: “We have a mandate for our opposition to the protocol and it must be respected.”

The Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said: “Whilst the mood music may have changed in British-Irish relations following the meeting between the Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris and the Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, what we really need to see is action. Time is short.

“From the day and hour it was proposed, the Ulster Unionist Party said the protocol was a bad deal for Northern Ireland. As a first step, checks on goods coming into Northern Ireland from Great Britain that are remaining here should cease.

“That would be a sign that the EU actively acknowledges the genuine concerns being expressed by both politicians and business organisations.”

Meanwhile, Jim Allister met the pro-Brexit junior NIO minister Steve Baker yesterday. Mr Allister said: “Today, Ulster Day, I met with Minister Baker to stress the importance of Northern Ireland’s cherished position of equal citizenship within the UK being restored.”

He also said: “Minister Baker listened to my points attentively and, in contrast with previous NIO ministers, clearly understood and seemed to share many of my concerns. However, as I pointed out the time for sympathetic words is over. Now is the time for robust action by His Majesty’s Government and an asserting of UK sovereignty in this part of the United Kingdom.”