Return to power-sharing before vote on protocol, unionists told

British ministers have told Unionists they must re-establish full power-sharing with Sinn Fein before parliament is asked to pass a law that would override swathes of the Northern Ireland Brexit deal.

Liz Truss says the measures are vital to protect the Northern Irealand peace process. Picture: Getty Images

British ministers have told Unionist politicians they must re-establish full power-sharing with Sinn Fein before parliament is asked to pass a law that would override swathes of the Northern Ireland Brexit deal.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is due to announce legislation overnight Monday that would allow the government to disregard key elements of the Northern Ireland protocol in a move critics claim would breach international law. Ms Truss will deny this and say the measures are vital to protect the Good Friday agreement and are fully in line with the government’s obligations.

The protocol effectively imposed checks and bans on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK and required it to follow EU regulations. Unionists fear the protocol is casting them adrift from the UK, by imposing a de facto trading border in the Irish Sea.

Talks between Britain and the EU to reform the protocol have resulted in stalemate and the government intends to amend it unilaterally, citing efforts to protect the Irish peace process. However, ministers have privately told the Democratic Unionist Party they will not push the bill through the House of Lords, where it is expected to face opposition, until the party has returned to government with Republicans.

Once the political wing of the IRA, Sinn Fein won enough seats at elections on May 5 in the devolved legislature to nominate its Northern Ireland leader, Michelle O’Neill, as first minister. Northern Ireland’s government can only form under the 1998 Agreement that ended The Troubles if the DUP agrees to take part and serve in the role of deputy first minister.

Sources said the government needed the DUP to move as a demonstration, to the EU and US, that the problems over the protocol could be fixed. They also want to counter the argument of critics who say the DUP has no intention of restoring power-sharing and merely wants to force the government to call elections in the hope it can return once again as the largest party.

THE TIMES