Northern Ireland Protocol: Orange Order reiterates opposition to UK-EU trade deal and Windsor Framework as DUP talks continue

The Orange Order has reiterated its opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework - but says it is withholding comment on any deal until the details are published.
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By Philip Bradfield
Published 29th Jan 2024, 18:16 GMT

Speaking to the News Letter while the DUP met behind closed doors on Monday, a spokesman for the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland said: “The Orange Institution has been clear in our opposition to the NI Protocol and the subsequent Windsor Framework. That has not changed.

“The outcome of the negotiations between the DUP and the UK Government are yet to be published and we therefore await more detail ahead of any further comment.”

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In March last year the order rejected the amendments made to the Protocol in the form of the Windsor Framework.

The Orange Order has reiterated its opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework, while internal DUP talks about a deal with government on the issues continue. Pictured is Mervyn Gibson, Grand Secretary of the Orange Order.The Orange Order has reiterated its opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework, while internal DUP talks about a deal with government on the issues continue. Pictured is Mervyn Gibson, Grand Secretary of the Orange Order.
The Orange Order has reiterated its opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework, while internal DUP talks about a deal with government on the issues continue. Pictured is Mervyn Gibson, Grand Secretary of the Orange Order.

It said the framework had delivered “limited but welcome” practical adjustments to the protocol but "does not resolve the fundamental concerns which were articulated in the text of the Anti-Protocol Declaration of September 2021" which was signed by all four unionist parties.

It added that many aspects of the framework had been “oversold” and that a proposed green lane for goods entering and staying in NI was “not a frictionless border”.

It added: “The Windsor Framework continues to treat Northern Ireland as a place apart within the United Kingdom and equal citizenship has not been restored.

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“Article 6 of the Act of Union remains in suspension and, as such, Northern Ireland continues to be a ‘semi-detached’ part of the economic Union the Act created.”

The order said the UK Government needed to introduce new legislation to protect the trading relationship between NI and GB.

In February 2022 tens of thousands of people attended Orange Halls across Northern Ireland to sign a petition against the protocol.

Grand Secretary Rev Mervyn Gibson told the BBC that the protocol "leads us into an all-Ireland economy which is a precursor to a united Ireland".

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However he said the order was not against special arrangements.

"We are not against special arrangements at all, but those arrangements should not stop goods [moving] within the UK market, [it] should be unfettered access, and we should not be subject to any court of justice in the European Union."

He said arrangements would only be acceptable to unionists if they did not "impinge on the sovereignty of Northern Ireland".

Related topics:Northern IrelandDUPNorthern Ireland ProtocolProtocolMervyn GibsonUK GovernmentGovernmentBBC