LAST UPDATE | 2 Feb 2022

NORTHERN IRELAND’S AGRICULTURE Minister Edwin Poots has ordered a halt to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports from midnight – checks which are legally required under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The move has been criticised as “grandstanding” by Stormont’s Justice Minister and Alliance Party leader Naomi Long; while Sinn Féin MLA John O’Dowd questioned where Poots received his legal advice in favour of suspending the checks. 

Alliance Party MLA John Blair said Edwin Poots and the DUP were “addicted to disruption”, while TUV leader Jim Allister welcomed Edwin Poots’ decision, saying “We need now to see the total dismantling and the unbedding of the Protocol.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said the checks suspension, if carried out, would be a “breach of international law”.

Earlier today, Poots said he had sought legal advice on whether he can unilaterally halt Brexit checks on agri-goods coming from Great Britain at Northern Ireland ports, after Sinn Féin vetoed a Stormont motion in relation to the Brexit checks.

Poots has argued that in the absence of Executive approval, he no longer has legal cover to continue the documentary checks and physical inspections.

It is yet unclear whether the senior civil servant in his department, Anthony Harbinson, will comply with the order.

Some politicians have insisted the civil service has a duty to comply with Stormont’s legal obligations to carry out the checks under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

Stormont Agriculture Minister @edwinpootsmla announces he has ordered a halt to NI Protocol checks at NI ports. He did not take any questions from media here at Parliament Buildings following his statement. pic.twitter.com/feYtNwNk34

— Rebecca Black (@RBlackPA) February 2, 2022

Speaking at Stormont this evening, Poots said he had received legal advice which stated that he could order a halt to Northern Ireland Protocol checks without the approval of the Executive.

“I have taken legal advice in relation to my position from senior counsel. Earlier today I received that legal advice.

It stated that at present there is presently no Executive approval for SPS checks [checks on animal and plant products]. The implementation of SPS checks requires Executive approval.

“A decision to initiate or continue such checks could not be validly taken in the absence of Executive approval.

The advice concluded that I can direct the checks to cease in the absence of Executive approval.

“I have now issued a formal instruction to my permanent secretary to halt all checks that were not in place on 31 December 2020 from midnight tonight.

“I will prepare a paper for Executive consideration in the near future to seek agreement on a way forward.”

At the weekend, Poots was not selected by the DUP as a candidate for the South Down area, ahead of Stormont Assembly elections to be held in May. Poots had indicated he wanted to leave his Lagan Valley constituency and stand in South Down – today he blamed DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson – his successor as DUP leader – for the failed attempt.

The party nominated Diane Forsythe as its candidate for South Down instead.

Poots gave an interview on the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster today in which he said “Edwin Poots hasn’t gone away” and that his political demise had not happened yet.

The Northern Ireland Assembly had been due to vote on whether to retain the post-Brexit Protocol arrangements in 2024, under the consent mechanism of the Brexit deal – the DUP has been arguing for the Protocol’s complete suspension since it first came into force. 

What happened in Stormont last Thursday?

PA Images PA Images

Poots sought the legal advice on unilaterally ending agri-checks from GB-to-NI after trying to secure the wider approval of all ministers of the Stormont Executive to continue checks on agri-foods arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

The agriculture minister has argued that in the absence of Executive approval, he no longer has legal cover to continue the documentary checks and physical inspections.

His move to seek a ministerial vote at the Executive last week was branded a stunt by other parties.

They insist the Executive has already agreed that Poots’ department has responsibility for carrying out the checks and he does not have the authority to halt processes that are required under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement – an international treaty.

Poots is arguing that the authority of the wider Stormont Executive is needed to conduct the post-Brexit checks now in force for over a year under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Claiming recent court rulings have clarified that such authority is required, Poots tried to secure the approval of the Executive by asking for the matter to be considered at last Thursday’s meeting of ministers.

He did so in the knowledge that if the issue was elevated to the Executive, his party could at that point exercise a veto to block approval for the checks.

Realising that, Sinn Féin used its own veto to prevent the issue from getting on the agenda – Poots is now claiming that this means the devolved administration has not given its approval for the Brexit checks, meaning he can suspend them.

Is this actually legal?

Poots said he would make a decision on whether to halt the checks once he considers the opinion of the senior counsel.

“I expect to receive senior counsel advice on that imminently and I will take my decision shortly after I consider that,” he told BBC Radio Ulster.

“If the advice leads me to a conclusion that the staff need to have the legal basis to operate there, which stems from having Executive approval, then I’ll have to act on that.”

Speaking in Seanad, Minister Coveney said: “If a political decision is taken by a minister in Northern Ireland to stop all checks in ports on goods coming across the Irish Sea, coming into Northern Ireland, that is effectively a breach of international law.

“It was agreed and ratified by the UK and the EU. And its implementation is not only part of an international treaty, but it is part of international law.

“It’s essentially playing politics with legal obligations. And I certainly hope that it doesn’t happen, as has been threatened.”

Justice Minister Naomi Long said that Poots had “received clear legal advice in March 2020 when he first tried this stunt”.

Long said the advice was clear that the Department of Agriculture is “obliged by law to undertake these checks”, adding: “Step up and do the job or step aside.”

If anyone else sauntered out of their office in the middle of an important meeting (in his case a debate on the Climate Change Bill in the Chamber) to announce they'd decided not to do part of their job they don't like, they'd soon find themselves out of work entirely.

— Naomi Long MLA (@naomi_long) February 2, 2022

DUP threats over the Protocol

The DUP has repeatedly threatened to withdraw ministers from the Stormont Executive if major changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol are not secured.

Such a move would prevent the administration from functioning properly and would remove its power to take significant decisions.

Poots blamed the Protocol for creating instability within the powersharing institutions – while Sinn Féin MLAs have argued that businesses and citizens are benefitting from access to both the United Kingdom and the EU.

Poots has said: “I am worried about what the Northern Ireland Protocol is doing to the Executive, I’m worried that the European Union has driven a coach and horses through the peace agreement that exists in Northern Ireland.”

On the prospect of Stormont collapsing, Poots added: “What we have currently is entirely unacceptable and if people think that is something that we’re just going to allow to grind on and on and on then that’s not going to happen.”

The minister said “time and space” had been afforded to UK and EU negotiators to find a resolution – some new changes to the Protocol have already been implemented. 

He said implementation of last year’s UK Government command paper on changes to the protocol would “help greatly” – this paper has been criticised as not being detailed enough to put into action.

With reporting from Gráinne Ní Aodha.