Stormont: Resolve protocol issues to avoid election – DUP

The government should focus on negotiations with the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol instead of calling an election, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said.

The Democratic Unionist Party leader told Sky News there had been “little focus” on dealing with the trade deal due to the Westminster “chaos”.

The party has refused to return to power-sharing due to the protocol.

Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill accused the DUP of hiding behind the protocol.

Northern Ireland is on course for an election after politicians missed the deadline set by Westminster for restoring devolved government, the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, now must call an election to be held within 12 weeks.

He said he would give more information next week and would be meeting the parties in the meantime.

Sir Jeffrey told Sky’s Sophy Ridge that he wanted to see the assembly restored as soon as possible, but a new election would not resolve the deadlock.

The protocol is part of the UK-EU Brexit deal which keeps Northern Ireland aligned with some EU trade rules.

This was designed to ensure goods could move freely across the Irish land border, from the UK into an EU member state, the Republic of Ireland.

However, it also creates a new trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, something the EU accepts is causing difficulties for many businesses.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) says the protocol has undermined Northern Ireland’s position within the UK and the party collapsed the Northern Ireland Executive, which is similar to the UK cabinet, in February.

An election in May saw Sinn Féin become the first nationalist party to win the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

This entitles Sinn Féin to nominate a first minister for the first time.

Also speaking to Sky News, Ms O’Neill said it was not lost on the wider public that the DUP did not like the election results and they had “difficulty” entering an executive led by her party.

“The DUP hide behind the issues of the protocol,” she said.

“What I want to see in the time ahead is very mature, sensible political discussion between the British government and the EU side. Let’s find an agreed way to solve the issues around the protocol.

“The protocol is a necessity and it is here to stay. There are things that can be smoothed out, there are things that can be made to work better and I up for that and I hope that is what we achieve.”

She urged the negotiations to continue in “earnest and be ramped up”.

An agreement would “provide certainty and stability, and would remove any pretence from the DUP in terms of forming an executive with myself and the rest of the parties,” she added.

Sir Jeffrey denied his party was reluctant to enter a new executive with a Sinn Féin first minister, saying he withdrew his ministers in February before that election outcome in May.

Speaking to Sky News, he summed up the last six months since the election: “We’ve had three prime ministers, Westminster has been in chaos, there’s been little of focus on getting a solution to the protocol.

“The talks with the EU only resumed a couple of weeks ago, and even then only at a technical level.”

He urged the UK government to “double down on either getting a negotiated solution with the EU or bringing forward the legislation in Parliament that will resolve the issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol.”

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which is currently with the House of Lords, would give the UK government unilateral powers to change the operation and oversight of the protocol.