Johnson claims he has a new plan to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol dispute through domestic legislation

Should that happen, it could pave the way for the DUP to resume power-sharing in Northern Ireland after refusing to form an executive or appoint a speaker for the assembly until the problem is solved.

The plans would meet with widespread condemnation here.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to fly to Belfast tomorrow to meet party leaders, including First Minister-elect Michelle O’Neill, and could announce his controversial plans as early as Tuesday.

One aspect of the proposal is said to be the “possible restoration of Union law,” the source said.

Mr Johnson is also expected to say that while the UK Government will “do its part in ensuring political stability”, politicians in Northern Ireland need to “get back to work” so that they can provide voters with bread and butter .

The Whitehall source said Mr Johnson’s government was debating whether to shape the protocol amendment bill so that it “could still work even if legal processes against it are successful”.

This strategy is favored by the British Prime Minister and is largely being driven by the European Research Group (ERG) – a group of Tory Brexiteers who support the DUP and on whose votes Mr Johnson relies for his survival.

Dismantling parts of the protocol could support the ERG’s goal of scrapping it entirely and enforcing a hard border between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

The Whitehall source said the tough approach to the deal would make it harder for the DUP to compromise on it, adding that the UK government’s strategy of flouting international law is “destabilizing” given its commitments under the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Johnson’s allies are understood to be warning him that, given the sensitivities in Northern Ireland, such an active breach of the law is “deeply disrespectful and disrespectful, particularly towards nationalists and loose voters”.

Mr Johnson’s use of national legislation to override aspects of the Northern Ireland Protocol is a tactic the EU has long warned against.

Sinn Féin yesterday accused Britain of conspiring with the DUP to deliberately block the re-establishment of power-sharing in Stormont.

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald claimed Boris Johnson was “in league with the DUP” when he prevented the formation of a new Executive and Assembly in Belfast.

She said Mr Johnson facilitated the DUP “recklessly and cynically” as part of a “brinkmanship game” with the EU over the protocol. Her comments followed a meeting of Sinn Féins ard chomhairle in Dublin.

Meanwhile, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said that when Mr Johnson arrived in Belfast he would ask him “to deal with the real difficulties created by the protocol”.

“We will determine our next steps as soon as we see what the government’s next steps are,” he said Sunday independent.

Asked if he understood the dismay of ordinary people at his party’s refusal to form a government, Mr Donaldson said: “I recognize that people are naturally frustrated – but we went to the polls and sought a mandate for them course of action we have taken.”