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

The message I have from the British Government today is that it is taking legal advice about the options available. I understand that the senior officials who are maintaining checks at ports in Northern Ireland today are also getting legal advice about their obligations.

Ireland's position on the implementation of the protocol has been consistent. We will continue to work with Vice President Maroš Šefčovič and his team and also with Liz Truss and her team to try to find solutions to outstanding issues through compromise, flexibility and pragmatism over how the protocol is implemented. We must be honest with people and consistent about what the protocol represents. The protocol is part of an international agreement, the withdrawal agreement, as I said earlier, agreed and ratified by the UK and the EU together. It is the result of over four years of difficult negotiations which involved compromises on all sides. It is the one and only solution found to protect the Good Friday Agreement in all its dimensions in the context of the UK's decision to leave the European Union.

The UK has a clear international obligation to implement the terms of the protocol, including by ensuring that the agreed upon SPS checks are carried out at ports in Northern Ireland. This is not only an international legal obligation. The European Union Withdrawal Agreement Act 2020, enacted by the UK Parliament, gives legal force in UK domestic law to the withdrawal agreement of which the protocol is an integral part. This is British domestic legislation as well as international law in the context of the treaties that have been agreed.

Together with the European Commission, we will continue to monitor developments in Northern Ireland closely. However, it is ultimately the responsibility of the British Government to honour its commitments and to respect its international obligations. This is an important month in the context of the protocol issues. I know there are significant efforts under way, on the EU side and on the British Government side to try to find accommodation on the key issues of customs, SPS and so on by the end of the month. Despite all the politics being played with this issue, we need to ensure that we give the negotiators time and space to try to find accommodation to settle some of these issues in February if we can.

See this speech in context