Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No, the way in which that vote takes place is it is effectively a simple majority of MLAs every four years. If there is a large majority of more than two thirds, then the next vote can be put off for eight years. My hope would be, and this may be naive, is that if we can get compromise and flexibility in a way that allows business and many in the unionist community to accept the protocol, then we could get to the point where there is a very strong endorsement of it and then it does not need to come up again for eight years. Although for now, it is every four years.

While of course you would like cross-community support, you could credibly have a situation where a minority of people in Northern Ireland could do away with the protocol when a majority of people want it. Cross-community support is part of the Good Friday Agreement on issues that are devolved to the Executive and the Assembly in Northern Ireland. Cross-community support is not part of decisions for the UK Government, in terms of international decisions. The principle of consent is about what the majority want and cross-community support is a separate and important issue in Northern Ireland. The protocol issues relate to a British Government agreed international agreement, and therefore it would be a very perverse approach to say that because of the need for cross-community support, you could have a minority of people deciding the future of the protocol against a majority. That does not mean we should not look for cross-community support; of course we should. That is why, despite the fact that many in the unionist community think that I have been very unreasonable in relation to the protocol, its construct and so on, we are probably the strongest advocates for flexibility and compromise on the EU side to try to respond to the legitimate concerns that many have raised.

We should be able to significantly reduce the checks burden on goods that we can show are staying in Northern Ireland and are at no risk of crossing the border into the EU Single Market or into the EU. That is what we have been pushing Vice-President Šefovi on, and to be fair, he has responded. On the food side, he thinks we can reduce sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, checks by 80%, as long as we can show those goods will be sold and consumed in Northern Ireland. Likewise, on the customs side, he thinks that we can reduce the burden by 50%. That is the space for agreement.

Lord Frost wants more than that. What he is asking for is that all goods that are being sold in Northern Ireland and are staying in Northern Ireland that come from Great Britain should be exempt from any form of checks, customs declarations and so on. That is a very difficult thing for the EU to deliver and it is not consistent with the protocol. However, the EU can go a long way with it to reduce that checks burden significantly in what Lord Frost would describe as inter-UK trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. That is the space in which the teams are currently talking.