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OVER THE WEEKEND we learned that several prominent DUP politicians will join a legal action against the Northern Ireland protocol of the EU-UK Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
This move is to compliment the political campaign already underway, a campaign that bluntly seeks to remove the protocol from the Agreement.
It must be said, again, that no tangible or workable solutions have been presented to replace this. We have seen recent attempts to rehash the already dismissed Alternative Arrangements, but these are not solutions.
An ill-judged challenge
A lot of work was done over several years on the impacts of Brexit on the island of Ireland, it’s not even two months since the protocol came into effect, there is no magic alternative.
Nobody likes the protocol but it is a compromise solution reflecting the political will of the British Government that can work, its impact is clearly being overstated for political gain by some as industry leaders have been much clearer on the actual impact and possible solutions.
One of the big concerns for the Irish Government through the original Brexit Referendum campaign was that little attention was given in England to the impact Brexit could have on the situation in Ireland. These concerns were either ignored or dismissed by the Leave campaign.
This legal challenge is not a surprising turn of events although it is ill-judged and will only further entrench the febrile political environment, as well as creating further uncertainty for people and businesses in Northern Ireland.
Alongside DUP politicians, the other parties to this case include former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib, Labour peer Kate Hoey, and Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister. These three individuals are a collection of some of the hardest Brexiteers that have been prominent over recent years.
Mr Habib has repeatedly made wild assertions about the situation in Ireland while Antrim-born Barroness Hoey has said the Good Friday Agreement is not a sustainable solution. An extreme Loyalist, Mr Allister has consistently been a vehement opponent of the Good Friday Agreement.
Not the time for posturing
There will be few with sympathy for the argument that the protocol, which prevents a hard border in Ireland and guarantees dual market access for local businesses, breaches the Good Friday Agreement, particularly when nearly all those bringing this challenge opposed the Agreement originally.
The calls of delivering democracy will ring hollow in a Northern Ireland that, like Scotland, voted against Brexit in the first place.
The DUP’s stance on the protocol is disappointing if not surprising, the party were enthusiastic supporters of Brexit and indeed had the opportunity to shape the negotiations and solutions when they held the balance of power in Westminster from 2017 to 2019.
In the interests of doing something productive, perhaps it is time for the party to dial down the rhetoric and work towards a practical resolution to any difficulties within the structure of the Withdrawal Agreement which followed Brexit. Both the EU and the British Government are committed to finding solutions where they are possible.
This type of politics is no good for anyone in my opinion. We all have an obligation to dial it down, to come together to discuss these questions. As public representatives, we must put politics aside and deal with the issues within an economic, social, and practical context.
Unionists in Northern Ireland have many legitimate concerns that should not be dismissed, however, none of these concerns will be sated by a pointless legal action destined to fail.
Neale Richmond is a Fine Gael TD for Dublin Rathdown and is former Seanad spokesperson on EU affairs for the party.
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Has to be exhausting being a unionist from the North, they seem to spend the majority of their time attacking and blaming the Daîl and Nationalists for the fact the British establishment have never and will never see them as ‘properly’ British. That on top of the fact when they step off a plane on ‘the mainland’ they’re as Irish as a peat briquette in the eyes of their supposed fellow countryman. The thing is the English, Welsh etc find the marching, flag waving and sectarianism of the north as strange and embarrassing as we do.
@How is it only Wednesday?: I’m afraid you’re 100% correct. I’ve seen it umpteen times. The only level of understanding of their brand of Britishness is seen in western lowlands of Scotland.
@How is it only Wednesday?: Paisley: “The people are British but the cattle are Irish”. According to the English: “The people are Irish but that bit of the island is ours”.
@How is it only Wednesday?: 100% , we have neighbors from the UK, lovely couple and always love meeting up with them for a chat… I have lost count how many times they feel embarrassed about the DUP in the north..
These DUP are living in times gone and they need to stop it already.
Unionists never seem to be happy unless they are stirring up trouble.
@Peter Bell: this time they’re saying no to something that they wanted
So the dup went against the over all majority of northern ireland over brexit referendum making it out it was a uk wide referendum.then they thought they were the big party when Theresa may relied on their support in westminster,they were paid off to the tune of a billion pound,they rejected every Theresa may suggestion jumping into bed with boris thinking the good ole dark times of northern ireland might happen again with violance and a hard border in ireland.boris led them up the garden path and he betrayed them.now they are no man’s land.their supporters are betraying them and they are an embarrassment to westminster.nobody wants them
No No No No No No No No No No No ……
@Noel Barnes: there’s no limit
The party that can only say NO. They have an election coming up and could be wiped out, that is what this is about.
The same as the Brexiteers who now complain when they are treated as a third country in Europe. Which they are.
The laughable part is that if they had done things right. Northern Ireland had the best of both worlds.
Instead they messed it all up and are left with the mess they are now in.
So are they taking themselves to court as well as they were pro Brexit?
The hard liners will vote TUV, the middle and farmers will move to Alliance and UUP and the DUP will no longer be the biggest party in Stormont.
Then the leader of the biggest party will then become First Minister.
DUP make a Sinn Fein member First Minister.
The stuff of nightmares for them.
The supposed Politian’s in the UK backing them are the same small minded individuals that though leaving a political and trading block the size if the EU was simple and there would be no issues. That they would have the same access to the markets, shows how delusional they were and still are.
Living in England, I always find it somewhat entertaining and irksome in equal measure when they ask am I from Southern or Northern Ireland. When I say Southern Ireland, they often reply with something akin to, ‘oh, thank God you’re not one of those Northern crazies’. It’s a bit mean, but it shows how many think. It’s always complicated as an Irish person here in that sense. It’s like many EU citizens don’t understand why I am not a foreigner in Britain and don’t have to apply to the Home Office to stay in the country after Brexit.
Had a leaflet from Neale in the door where he advocated an British type honours system for Ireland and talked about his submission to turn the Iveagh market building into a Johnny Ronan museum. That’s the kind of outside the box thinking we lack in Irish politics and why he can rely on my vote.
@Tom Thumb: like “Sir John Delaney” …………..imagine that under the British type honours system, it could have happened…
@Tom Thumb: he’s a west Brit poppy wearing clown who would like to see Ireland join the commonwealth again. Copying something that the UK does is not thinking outside the box.
I remember a verse from the Phoenix mag..
Good king Wenceslas first looked out
on the sleet and snow.
The EBS say ‘Yes yes yes’
But Ulster still says No!
Even on their passports front page they’re Irish.
The United kingdom of “Great” Britain & Northern Ireland it says.
it’s always the time for posturing when you’re the dup
The last gasp as the Europe’s last left over imperial residue grasp the last straw…The Pieds Noirs of Europe’s artificial Transkei is abandoned…Hilarious
They’re not called the Dinosaur Unionist party & Hillbillies for no reason! If they could they’d resurrect King Billy so that he could get even more financial support from the Pope to attack his Uncle & Father in law, King James.
They continually want to fight a war that ended 300 years ago, time for them to join the rest of us in the 21st century
In a way , kicking up trouble and destabilizing the economic situation in northern ireland is exactly what they need to do ,( from a staunch unionist point of view ) , theres going to be a referendum of sorts in a few years on wether northern ireland should stay in the customs union or rejoin the uk economically… If northern ireland were to grasp the opportunity it has of being the only part of the uk still “europe” and do well then the locals wouldn’t vote to go back in with the uk … Lousey from a unionist point of view ,
N
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