UK’s Sunak sells EU deal as ‘prize’ for Northern Ireland
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak traveled to Northern Ireland on Tuesday to try to drum up support for a new post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union.
After striking a deal a day early with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Sunak hopes to secure the support of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and end the boycott of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing deals.
The new deal, called the Windsor Framework, seeks to ease tensions over Northern Ireland’s status following the UK’s official divorce from the EU in 2020.
The deal aims to alleviate some of the difficulties that have arisen for goods coming to Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, while maintaining Northern Ireland’s unique status, effectively remaining part of the European single market post-Brexit.
Northern Ireland trade unionists, who believe the country should remain part of the United Kingdom and not join the Republic of Ireland, objected to the terms of the deal, saying it made the country’s status unacceptably different from that of England, Scotland and Wales.
They refused to participate in the power-sharing government with their main rivals, citing dissatisfaction with the agreement as the reason. Under Northern Ireland’s complex rules designed to keep the peace, this means the legislature cannot convene.
What did Sunak say?
During his visit to Belfast and other areas of Northern Ireland on Tuesday, Sunak said he wanted to provide details of the new deal, although he acknowledged it would take time.
“I am also very excited, we are not ashamed to say, that the people of Northern Ireland need and deserve their government,” he told reporters.
During a visit to a Coca-Cola factory in Lisburn, Sunak said the deal would make Northern Ireland “the most exciting economic zone in the world” – granting it access to EU and UK markets.
“Nobody else has that. Nobody. Just you: just here, and that’s the prize,” said the prime minister.
How did the Northern Irish authorities react?
DUP leader Jefferey Donaldson said his first reading of the new deal appeared to address his party’s sovereignty concerns.
But he added that the party would need time to thoroughly review the deal to see whether it meets the requirements to return to a power-sharing government at the Stormont assembly.
The British government has yet to set a deadline for a response.
The DUP, which is Northern Ireland’s second largest political party, refused to join the power-sharing government in Stormont in protest against the initial Northern Ireland Protocol.
They argue that the original “Northern Ireland Protocol” amounted to a loss of sovereignty and equal status with England, Scotland and Wales.
Source: DW
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