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LAST UPDATE | 8 Nov 2021
UNIONIST SUPPORT FOR peace process agreements in Northern Ireland is “falling away” due to the Brexit protocol, Jeffrey Donaldson has warned.
The DUP leader offered the assessment after the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) said it could no longer support the 1998 Good Friday agreement because in its opinion the Irish Sea border had undermined its central plank – the principle of consent.
Donaldson also condemned recent outbreaks of violence in certain loyalist communities, including the hijacking and burning of two buses – incidents that have been linked to protests against the protocol.
The PUP, which is politically aligned to the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force, said there was no basis for unionists to retain support for the peace deal that established the power-sharing institutions at Stormont.
Reacting to the move, Donaldson said: “The PUP are very clear – they’re not wanting people to go back to violence and they have condemned violence on our streets.
“But it is a matter of concern that support for the agreements and political institutions is falling away, and not least within unionism itself.
“I’ve been warning about this now and warning that this is one of the consequences of the protocol, because the protocol upsets the very delicate constitutional balance that is at the heart of the agreement, it undermines our relationship with the rest of the United Kingdom in a way that is unacceptable to unionists.
“Let’s not lose sight of the fact there isn’t a single unionist elected representative that supports this protocol.
“So, in a way, I understand where the PUP are coming from. But I want to get to a place where we put this right, where we get the political stability that we need.”
Donaldson also accused Dublin and Brussels of engaging in “megaphone diplomacy” over the potential of a trade war with the UK.
He said comments from the Irish Government and the EU around the prospect of retaliatory action if the UK suspends the protocol – potentially in the form of terminating the Trade and Cooperation Agreement – were causing “harm and damage”, and ratcheting up tensions.
He branded “disgraceful” a comment attributed to an unnamed EU diplomat quoted in the Daily Telegraph who said the EU was “ready for peace but prepared for war”.
The phrase has particular connotations in Northern Ireland as it was a slogan used by loyalist paramilitaries during the peace process to sum up their attitude to the political agreements. A well-known mural on a loyalist estate in north Belfast still bears the message.
The Ulster Unionist Party has also condemned the unattributed remark and UUP MLA Mike Nesbitt asked Stormont deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill to join that condemnation during Assembly question time today.
“Can I say that anybody who holds public office needs to be very careful in terms of the language which they use,” the Sinn Fein vice president replied.
“I note the comment that the member’s referring to, it’s not attributed to anybody so I don’t know where it’s coming from, but language of that nature isn’t appropriate or in any shape or form.”
O’Neill accused the DUP of feeding a narrative that has inflamed and encouraged recent violence on the streets of Northern Ireland.
She pointed to the party’s boycott of north-south political meetings and its threat to pull down Stormont in opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The Sinn Fein vice president made the claims during Assembly question time as she commented on recent violent attacks in the region, the latest of which saw a bus hijacked and burned out on the loyalist Rathcoole estate on Sunday night.
Donaldson expressed doubt the EU would risk the trade deal, given its reliance on UK consumers.
“The EU does a lot of trade with the United Kingdom,” he said.
“Germany, the biggest trading nation in the EU, the United Kingdom is its biggest market in Europe, it’s the second biggest market for Germany in the whole world.
“Does anyone seriously believe that the Germans want to open a trade war with the United Kingdom? That’s not the answer here.
“The answer is to sit around the table and agree a solution. If the EU can’t do that, if the EU prefers instead to choose rhetoric, to choose a trade war over the need to protect the political process in Northern Ireland, then I’m sad about that.
“But it means the UK Government then must take decisive action to restore Northern Ireland’s place within the UK internal market and respect what the Belfast Agreement says – that Northern Ireland remains an integral part of the United Kingdom, unless the people of Northern Ireland decide otherwise.”
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The machine in Kilkenny was used JUST 3 times since 2006?
3 times seems to me to completely justify their use.
You mean they don’t have it already? They should. Especially in rural areas where in most cases the Gardaí are the first people on the scene
News have said that Gardai have shabby 300,000 + kilometre squad cars, wage cuts, shabby uniforms who’s guna pay for defib machines?!
Brilliant Idea.
Won’t taser guns achieve the same end?
The airport police in Dublin are fully trained to use defibrillators and they and the airport fire service have been awarded by the American heart foundation for the amount of lives they have saved using defebs.
Aha ha ha ha, thats the best joke all day!
The Joeys are only security guards not police…
Dublin Airport is officially recognised as the best (out of hospital) place in Ireland to suffer a cardiac arrest should you be unlucky enough to suffer one. Their success rate is fantastic and it is purely down to having plenty of defibrillators around the airport and plenty of staff trained to use them
You obviously haven’t experienced first hand medical treatment from the DAA ambulance service, 9 times out of 10 its a Dublin City Fire Brigade or Ambulance that tends to people on scene
Well Aaron I probably have more experience of Dublin’s EMS services than you might think.
The whole point of CPR/AED is that it’s done early by trained persons. The reason the airport are seeing such good results is because staff right across the DAA are trained up, and you are never very far from a defibrillator, you would not have to wait for the ambulance to arrive. The airport fire service have only one ambulance and if it’s busy with another patient obviously DFB/HSE ambulances will be called next. DAA fire service paramedics receive the same training as every other paramedic in the country and operate to the same standard.
The main thing about AED use is anyone can do it once trained, i.e Gardai, which service transports you to hospital is not really relevant.
Aha ha ha thanx for the Steve! I dont doubt about the De-Fib machines as I see them all over the Airport everday, as for the experience of the Ambulance Service and Airport Police is very questionable, I wouldnt like to leave my life in their hands after the situations ive experienced with them
That’s a pity that you have had bad experiences. I don’t work in the airport and I’m not sure how it works but I presume there is an avenue you could go down to make a complaint?
Anyway I’m sure there are countless people who are very happy with the services in the airport, especially those who were saved from certain death by a member of staff with a defibrillator
Regardless of people’s personal opinion on the actual standing of the members of the Airport Police Service the DAA has proven by equipping its police officers with Defibs in their patrol cars & at static posts it has led to a dramatic increase in number of life’s been saved.
It’s a shame our national police force the Gardai will never be able to emulate this and see such a roll out of these AEDs in their patrol cars with all the cost cutting taking place. The benefit to the community should outway the cost.
i really would have thought all gardai would be trained to a dfib. its very easy to operate once you know how. first aid in general should be thought in schools. the red cross do fantastic work in educating people in first aid.
Sorry religion takes precedence in schools, learning & life skills are further down the list because OFFICIALLY according to the Dept of Edu rulebook Religion is the most important subject.
So, you call the Gardai in the early hours of the morning because you hear someone downstairs in your home, but the local Gardai are on their way to a heart attack victim, which of course, would have to be the priority, because its life or death. So, you lock your door and pray they don’t come upstairs. Community first responders on bleeper would seem to be the way to go, especially in rural areas which could be miles from an ambulance base. They could be given a small allowance for answering calls.
Education, these things should be in the School and volunteers could teach it. Do away with half days on wednesday, teach them first aid and Driving theory. Speaking Irish wont get you a job in Google, save a life and make you able to drive or neither would saying a prayer! But of course, the Irish have their priorities right!
completely agree with ya!
Thanks Sarah, so do I!
what a great local politician! If it wasn’t for him we would have head shops all over county Clare. He was the one who organised protests in Ennis. My son was severely addicted to legal highs, and now thanks to Paul O’shea he is recovering. keep up the work O’Shea!
cracking comment there, I thoroughly agree with that thought of yours Miss O’Shea. I also support the Great work of Mr.Paul O’Shea, under so much pressure from all angles but he comes out a winner every time, My sister suffered terribly due to her frequent visits to the head shop, because of Mr.O’Shea’s efforts, her head is cured and she is back to her usual self, I am so impressed by all his great work in supporting the town of Ennis and improving co Clare on a monthly basis. You GO O’SHEA!!!
A new interegation method?
I agree with you guys. My local paramedics hadn’t got a clue how to put out my chip pan fire last week, and don’t get me started about the three firefighters who came after my house was burgled, they hadn’t a clue how to take fingerprints. Something must be done. Won’t anyone think of the children!!!
Most fire engine carry them and are never called in towns around the country ,and and we’ll trained to use them but costs costs that what it comes down to
So they beat you to death in a cell, revive you, then beat you to death again, then revive you then…
That’s when they are out of prison spaces, they have to fit you in somewhere. So why not a box and make sure no-one is looking while your kicked under the bed!
Sarcasm?
I arrived on a RTI scene St. Patricks weekend before the guards, when they arrived I asked them for their first aid kit, they didn’t have any the female guard took control of the scene and set about trying to find out what speed the vehicles were doing when they came off the road (sudden hail storm – ice formed on road was to blame) she didn’t care about possible injuries even though they have radios and can inform medical and rescue staff… guarda first aid, scene safety, security of injured was and still is a joke. we have a guard who lives locally who attended a CPR AED with myself for local first responder. he hasn’t received or being offered any first aidder beyond basic level during his recruitment training.
Firstly alot of Gardai have funded their own first aid/CPR/AED training out of their own pocket.
Second , like it or not the guard at the scene of that accident was there to investigated the cause and having no received training in first aid or been supplied with a first aid kit I dont she how she could do anything else.
Third I would bet everything I own that there was an ambulance on route because as you were first at scene and are first aid trained I’m sure you would have called an ambulance. Her radio would not have made any difference in this case.
Something seriously wrong if they havent been shown already or do they get lessons in how to lick 99s while their on duty and do their shopping in Tesco also ahead of important first aid training?
They do their shopping in tescos? Are you serious the gardai actually eat? Thats crazy domething has to be done about this…
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