UK Government has moved the goalposts of the Northern Ireland Protocol – Taoiseach

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the UK Government had moved the goalposts of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

r Martin told reporters in Belfast after meetings with political leaders and business.
that London has “broadened” the picture in terms of protocol issues.

His comments come after the DUP caused a standoff in Stormont when it refused to enter a power-sharing government with Sinn Féin unless its problems with protocol were resolved.

London this week announced it would scrap parts of the protocol and Foreign Secretary Simon Coveney met UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss this morning.

“On the UK Government side we have yet to get a clean landing or as others in the European Union would say square the circle so to speak and the goalposts are moving on in that regard,” said Mr Martin.

“This week the UK government is once again hinting at a broadening of the picture in terms of resolving issues arising from the Protocol.

“As a member of the European Union, after understanding the problems in the North and listening to the concerns in the North, we have sincerely tried to resolve these issues.”

He called on the UK government to work with the EU and have “parallel discussions” on the protocol.

He called on the British government to “get involved and negotiate seriously”.

“This was a deal that the UK Government signed and ratified in its Parliament and it is now unhappy with aspects of it.

“Well, let’s try to resolve these issues in a meaningful way, and that means going into the tunnel and negotiating seriously,” he said.

“We accept that legitimate issues have been raised with the Protocol, but we believe they can be resolved.”

He said that “serious, substantive negotiations” are something “that must take place” and are “the only way to resolve this issue.”

Mr Martin said the “narrative” that the NI protocol is hurting the North’s economy “doesn’t quite hold up”.

He said the government structures already in place in the north could not be changed to resolve the deadlock that resulted from the recent elections.