Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As my colleague said, no one in this House needs reminding but perhaps some in the United Kingdom need to recall that it was the British Government that decided to have a referendum to leave the EU. It was the British Government that decided to have a hard Brexit and to leave the Single Market in this way, that found out the impact that would have on the island of Ireland, that agreed the withdrawal treaty and the protocol, and that brought the relevant instruments through its parliament. It is the British Government that now, in essence, tries to plead ignorance, whether ignorance of the terms it agreed, ignorance that they were likely to be applied, ignorance of the effect that would have on the crucial east-west dimension of the Good Friday Agreement or ignorance that there would be a challenge caused by those actions to the operation of that agreement.

It is not the protocol that causes the challenge to the agreement, as has been maintained; it is and always has been the decision of the British Government to choose the hardest possible Brexit. It is caused by the decision not to explain the impact on Northern Ireland in the course of the referendum, or even, in reality, to acknowledge its existence as an issue. It is caused by the decision to continue to push the extreme positions, as my colleague, Deputy Richmond has said. The hardest possible position, involving the hardest Brexit possible and threats to invoke Article 16, is pushed as a first course. The threats and theatre have brought the British Government to the desperately sad position it is in in the eyes of the international partners it has had. It has decided to play local inter-party transient politics over the commitment of the United Kingdom to its position of co-guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, or to international law more broadly. The steps taken on legacy, which have been discussed in detail in this House and on which we in the House are united, were a further reflection of this abrogation of responsibility, although we have seen positive steps today in relation to the identity and language Bill in Northern Ireland, which I welcome.

Always in politics we are reaching for dialogue, for compromise and for facilitating each other. That was the essence of the Good Friday Agreement for all parties, and we have had an opportunity for sustained peaceful development on this island as a consequence of those steps towards each other and compromises. Credit is due to all for that, including to the EU which has acted as a guarantor of the agreement and funded many projects of reconciliation and development for Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom.

The Northern Ireland protocol is a mutually agreed solution to the challenges posed to Northern Ireland by the choice made by the British Government as to the type of Brexit it wanted. It was agreed after long negotiations between the EU and the UK. It protects the Good Friday Agreement in all its dimensions and is broadly supported by people and business in Northern Ireland. We have said that in this House and heard in the Good Friday Agreement committee from representatives of business groups and chambers of commerce from Northern Ireland who remind us that huge opportunities come from the protocol and that the practical issues can be and have been worked through.

The then DUP leader, Arlene Foster, in welcoming the trade deal reached between the EU and UK in December 2020, stated that she welcomed the successful conclusion of negotiations. She said it was "the start of a new era in the relationship between the UK and the EU and in Northern Ireland we will want to maximise the opportunities the new arrangements provide for our local economy.” In a further statement, she referenced this as a sensible deal that was almost the most favourable outcome for Northern Ireland.She stated: “Moving forward, we will continue to work to seize the opportunities and address the challenges which arise from the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union”. This statement is no longer available on the DUP website, in my searches in any event. Perhaps it has been deleted. These things do happen. If the position has changed, we have to ask why.

The realities of leaving the Single Market remain. The realities of trade on this island remain. Nothing has changed, neither the rules nor the desire to make it work. The desire to make the post-Brexit relationship work is unchanged. The desire to work out practical problems is unchanged. Consider how the medicines issue has been quietly resolved by the EU with little fanfare in recent weeks. Nothing has changed except that new barriers seem to be found. There is still space for the United Kingdom Government to change.

However, in an article published today in the Daily Express, Arlene Foster says the “protocol has to be fundamentally changed.” As Deputy Richmond mentioned, in The Irish Timestoday foreign secretary Liz Truss says the protocol is the biggest challenge to the Northern Ireland Executive getting back to work. She says "the problems of the Protocol are baked into its... text”. This is the text agreed by the Government of which she has been a member. It is hard to take seriously. We are moving from obfuscation now to bad faith. The threat that follows in her article today is contained in the statement that “we cannot allow any more drift and delay." Keep in mind that negotiations have been stalled in real terms since February. She states: “Without an Executive and no prospect of one until these concerns can be addressed, we need to provide reassurance to Northern Ireland that the problems with the protocol will be fixed one way or another.” She goes on to state:

The UK has a duty to take the necessary decisions to preserve peace and stability. That is why I have announced our intention to introduce legislation in the coming weeks.

It is hard to overstate how irresponsible that position is. It is hard to overstate the bad faith that is the application of internal party politics to free trade on this island. There is still space to change. There is still space to, for example, come closer to the Single Market fold.

There is always more than one way to change. The EU has worked to accommodate the political desires of the United Kingdom. It has found, together, the solution to the decision to have a hard Brexit and to give Northern Ireland the opportunity to trade in the broadest and most constructive way.

It is time now for the United Kingdom to step up to what it used to be - a respectable partner in peace and stability that worked towards the Good Friday Agreement and guaranteed its stability, and committed to the rule of law and international law. There is the space to come back yet. Although the British Government may not be listening, I hope there are those in Whitehall and in other parties, and perhaps Tories yet to come, who can remember and will bring the United Kingdom back into the fold of being an international partner of peace and stability. I look forward to that day of renewed partnership, but we have to get over this day of obfuscation and bad faith first.

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