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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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this whole “my bill is bigger than your bill” malarkey is pathetic.
I read as far as the first line of the Green Party bill (after the definitions).
It says “No person shall sell or manufacture products containing micro-beads or add micro-beads to cosmetics, soaps or similar products.”
the rest is just clarification on this ban and how to monitor it.
what more do we need?
@stopit: “Billy waving” i think is what they call it ….
Don’t know why this is taking so long and FF attitude is appalling. Must be because the lizards use the microbeads to get rid of loose scales.
The only reason these exist is because of marketing… plenty of natural exfoliants, silicon, quartz, cellulose that are just as effective. But they just don’t look as attractive as bright blue or orange in the animated representation of the product in use during ads and give it that something extra to make it seem different.
True, and there’s absolutely no doubt that when these were dreamed up by some marketing genius, they were fully aware of the completely pointless environmental destruction they would cause. And they did it anyway. Ban them immediately. Then introduce “more robust” legislation later.
I wouldn’t give marketing execs that much credit, microbeads are far cheaper to produce than exploiting natural exfoliants; environmental impact is often overlooked when taking an existing material in a new application. BTW, unless you’re work in Intel or something I think you mean Silica ;)
Typical FF new politics my arse
FF – “Oh gosh no, we can’t make a decision for ourselves! Lets wait and see what Europe tells us to do”
@William Roche: You mean Merkel lol.
What a bunch of lies FF are telling the greens bill is as comprehensive as it’s possible to be more so than most countries that have enacted bans. The only sense it is restrictive is restricting the further pollution of our Environment pity FF don’t seem to value that.
Surely this should be a worldwide thing if not an EU thing to get this excess plastic out of the environment?
What sort of conscience do these manufacturers have to make this stuff in the first place
***Profit***
Those coffee pods are also an environmental time bomb that nobody talks about!
@Philip Kenna: Who cares about the environmental impact? George Clooney’s gawjus…
The ban should be at European level , you can exfoliate just as well with shower gel and salt or oil and salt mixed together .
Here’s an idea d1kheads in the oireachtas. Why not sit down together and draft legislation that will work instead of the usual one upmanship..
Manufacturers don’t need time to adapt, just stop putting that shit in their products.
Boycott them all until they remove the beads
Shame on Ireland
When will they discuss puppy farming and animal abuse???
I am more worried that something that goes down thee same hole as my faeces and urine ends up in rivers and seas.
Great to see our political parties tackling the urgent, important issues.
@Daisy Chainsaw:
I sense sarcasm, maybe if you took time to understand the issue and the incremental effects these beads can have over time you’d see it as an important issue worthy of government time. You might also see that what’s being reported is a snapshot of why ordinary citizens are disgusted with politics.
@Daisy Chainsaw:
Couldn’t agree more!!!
This is an important issue
@Daisy Chainsaw: It is killing the wildlife that other wildlife feeds on, it is polluting our environment and killing wildlife.
A bulking agent to make a profit on goods, god knows what they are made from but they end up in the rivers and sea as well then in the wildlife.
The type of plastic used in them might effect the hormones in wildlife and in people as I do not think they care what the plastic might be made from. Can you imagine if it was recycled farm plastic waste lol.
I think salt would be better for you than these plastic beads?
Why would they do that?
Darn we’ll be sweating beads of plastic sweat.
I am SO angry about that political fudging. Microbeads are getting into the food chain via seafood/fish. They were recently found in Plankton. No debate, they are a known toxin. Big pharma HAVE to stop their production NOW – end of.
Would some one please tell the Greens to politely F off. They did nothing in power they will do less put of it
have your say