Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses. It is great to have this engagement with the committee. People have spoken about the relationship and while there might be a different view as to how bad the east-west relationship is, some elements of trust may be lacking. I will put my cards on the table. My view of what I am hearing from the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Secretary of State, Lord David Frost, is what I would say has happened here for probably centuries in the sense that even when we think we have a deal with the British Government there is always an attempt at a renegotiation even after the fact.

With Boris Johnson, we just do not know if it is a play to his home base. Is he serious about what he says about the Irish protocol? It adds to instability. We know there are difficulties in unionism. I believe those difficulties relate to the fact that unionists have never had to move beyond the lowest common denominator within their own base and they are now losing support to their left and right flanks. Whatever about the Irish language Act, agreements made many years ago and solutions that have been found to that, they have settled on the Irish protocol as being a major issue to wrap the Union Jack around themselves. What they hear from Boris Johnson and Lord David Frost gives them false succour. I would put the Irish protocol in the same framework as the Good Friday Agreement. They are international agreements and they are not going anywhere. I accept that certain things need to be streamlined.

I lost my connection to the meeting for a minute or two and may have missed some interaction. I apologise if I am repeating what someone else may have said. What are the possibilities of an SPS deal on animal and veterinary issues that would address a significant number of the protocol issues? That is accepting that there are enough modalities and committees between the EU and the British Government to deal with this issue.

I welcome that Lord Hain spoke about the democratic deficit in respect of the North. When the trade and co-operation agreement went through the European Parliament there was a resolution that there needs to be some element of Northern representation or engagement. We would have played our part on that. We need to ensure that happens. Do the witnesses believe the British Government would consider another unilateral action? Could we have some sort of deal? An SPS deal may be on the cards.

Boris Johnson is considering an amnesty for members of state forces regarding actions that occurred during the conflict. Many people here, particularly nationalists throughout the island, believe that the British Government is never willing to accept or own up to its role in collusion between state forces and loyalist killer gangs.