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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.”
After the unanimous verdict by the Supreme Court in vindicating the President of Peace & the confirmation that the Democrats waged a 2year baseless witch-hunt against him the juggernaut of peace is careering towards the White House Nov5th.
Let’s STOP the wars & killing.
Let’s turn tye economy around.
Let’s MAGA
TRUMP2024
@Ken Mc Carthy: After peeing off The Women, the Military, the Black’s, the Jews….58% of Women won’t vote for him, Generation Z Will be first time registrerd voters , the majority Won’t Vote for him, the Swifties Won’t vote for him…Get THE message!!!
@Mick Hanna: lol, if you lefties & biden.bots going to have a meltdown after super Tuesday in March….. imagine what ye’ll be like Nov5th ??? Regardless of sex, sexual orientation, colour, religious beliefs, whether you like Taylor swift or not…… EVERYONE wants an end to the needless wars & deaths in Ukraine,Palestine,Israel etc. & the republicans have a proven leader that’s willing to take the ( big) task again. The world had Ghandi, we had Nelson Mandela….. we need / deserve a President of Peace for our time…..
& he’s coming like a juggernaut.
TRUMP2024
@Ken Mc Carthy: Boo hoo, hoo, Jack is Coming for him, NO WAY OUT!!!
@Mick Hanna:He is a Trumpard ,so like talking to a brick wall.
@Ken Mc Carthy:He may be built like a juggernaut,but man of peace He most certainly is not.
In his delusions of becoming President again,which I do not believe for one minute.,he has threatened to jail destroy,and break every person that objected to him and his crackpot views.
He is a menace,and a danger to the American people,he is practically illiterate,and the most unstable person to ever set foot in the W.H.
He is aggressive,vicious, and totally dishonest.
A bumbling disaster.
@Mary.E.: The only President in modern history that NEVER started a war( stopped a few though) & jobless figures dropped EVERY month during his time at the ‘helm’. He’s a ‘doer’ … not a political mouthpiece in the pockets ofvthe arms industry. Imagine, just imagine….. we can have that AGAIN….. sadly, its too late for all those widows & orphans in Ukraine, Palestine,Israel etc……. but think of the future generations that will speak his name with awe & reverence. As regards retribution for those corrupt judges & DA’s that perpetrated the vile witch hunt against him….well, they got it coming….what’s ‘good for the goose… etc’ . Super Tues WILL hurt ye biden.bots a lot but peace& prosperity is coming… suck it up!!.
Let’s MAGA
TRUMP2024
@Ken Mc Carthy: Putting Gandhi, Mandela and Trump together is just wrong on ANY metric
@Ken Mc Carthy: man of peace lol. He would hand ukraine to Russia on a plate. The man is a dictator in the making. He would destroy the world.
@Mick Hanna: Don’t bother with Ken. Tro!! Of the higher order
@Ken Mc Carthy: Just checked in to see if “Ken” embarrassed himself yet. Of course it’s top comment.
@Ken Mc Carthy: just curious to know. If everyone as you say wants to see peace then why have the Republicans held up the aid package for ukraine. It’s not a dig just curious to know that could be. He also said he would let nato allies be invaded if they don’t ramp up their spending on military.
He also told a reporter that you just need to grab em by the pussy.
Do you genuinely want a person of his character in the Whitehouse.
Biden is no prize either but I just don’t understand the logic.
@Ken Mc Carthy: You really need to up your trolling game. Sad.
So inspiring that the vote to be elected as the commander-in-chief of the greatest fighting force ever assembled, and the guardian of the most influential economy on Earth, has boiled down to a slagging match about who’s candidate is suffering least from dementia.
It’s even more depressing seeing commenters on here, in support of both sides, repeating platitudes verbatim which were made up in American PR firms.
@Louis Jacob: I think that’s exactly how the majority of people (outside the US at least) feel. Very well expressed.
@Louis Jacob: That’s more than disingenuous to just look at age, as if both are comparable otherwise. As Joe Biden says “Don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative.” The alternative is a proven rap ist and fraudster. Here’s what one of his top officials had to say about him.
“He lacks any shred of human decency, humility or caring. He is morally bankrupt, breathtakingly dishonest, lethally incompetent, and stunningly ignorant of virtually anything related to governing, history, geography, human events or world affairs. He is a traitor and a malignancy in our nation and represents a clear and present danger to our democracy and the rule of law.”
Trump gonna win bigly
Trump 2024
Has any other candidate ever received so much airtime and media coverage? It’s bananas to think of how little time it takes watching, listening to or reading Trump’s statements for his almost complete lack of substance or decency to register. His 2016 campaign should have flamed out after his announcement he was running. His 2024 campaign is like investing your life savings in airships the day after the Hindenburg disaster.
@Numinous20111: Okay, a better analogy has occurred to me. Think of the movie ‘Alien’, but the alien creature spends all its time in the Nostromo’s airlock and the human crew just can’t piece together that they should hit the Open Airlock button.
There seems to be an epidemic of incompetent leaders around the world.
@InTheHead: Incompetent isn’t too bad. Competent and evil is worse.
@Brendan O’Brien: The toxic negativity of climate change modelling and the dire predictions based on the imperative that a nation must control the weather /temperatures by controlling human behaviour is responsible for the emergence of the narcissist and his toxic popularity.
Our society is exposed every evening to the same toxic negativity long after the electorate has become disinterested, apart from the self-serving modelling community promoting it and hapless political ideologues influencing the direction of Government.
The direction of the media is also important as environmental and pollution concerns are important. It should not come at the expense of the Earth science of climate and the modelling misadventure imposed on it.
@Brendan O’Brien: Also willing to sell America down the swanee to enrich himself, This is dangerous for the whole planet.
@Gerald Kelleher: Back for more?
I feel for the US Americans, a people that I admired deeply when I was a kid. Not their tendency of making a circus, mind. But sadly the circus is all that’s left today.
@smatrix mantra: Yeah there’s a really good reason their passports look like circus tickets.
Wish we’d a TRUMP here..
@tara tevlin: A turkey wishing for Christmas.
@tara tevlin: Plenty of goms at anti immigrant rallies to choose from.
He means Biden when he says Obama.
Nancy when he says Nikki.
Erdogan when he says Orban.
Milei when he says Argentina.
Polls when he says bills.
Bing when he says ding, boom, woosh.
Trump is a ticking time bomb of cognitive collapse.
@Conrad Stapletwin: Haha,
Couldn’t have said it better mersherf,
ooooooohaaaaaahhhhh
@Conrad Stapletwin: the latest defence is that it’s all deliberate for comedic effect. 4D chess from a man who had to have a list of words hand picked for him to ‘ace’ a cognitive test.
@Bobby Digital: “Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV”
4D chess?! Trump would struggle to win a game of Tiddlywinks against a toddler – especially with those tiny little hands.
Thankfully the Trumpy nitwits don’t have too much upstairs.Just imagine if they had. USA is a basket case.
@carol mullen: I’m just glad their online profiles don’t all get votes. The ones on here don’t even get a vote, Imagine being Irish and shouting MAGA all day every day. Pathetic stuff.
The media plays a large role in the popularity of the narcissist.
@Gerald Kelleher: A lack of education is the biggest issue here.
have your say