Northern Ireland Protocol 'problems' must be 'fixed' to preserve stability, says Deputy PM Raab

Callum Watkinson reports on the historic election in Northern Ireland

The issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol need to be resolved in order to preserve "stability" following Sinn Fein’s election success, the deputy prime minister has said.

For the first time in history, the Republican party emerged on top in the Assembly elections, with the DUP in second place.

Dominic Raab said that stability was being "imperilled" by problems with the protocol, which governs Northern Ireland's post-Brexit trading arrangements and was agreed to by Boris Johnson's government as part of the divorce from the EU.

What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?

The protocol forms part of the Brexit deal struck between the UK government and the European Union.

Its aim was to avoid creating a border between the Republic and Northern Ireland.

It sees Northern Ireland continue to follow EU rules, and thus has created a de facto sea border with GB, which has caused controversy.

Keeping the land border open was essential with both sides stating that they were committed to upholding the 1998 peace agreement, more commonly known as the Good Friday or Belfast Agreement.

The deal seeks to prevent the return to a hard border between NI and the Republic of Ireland, but it creates an effective border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK in terms of trade.

An impasse over efforts to renegotiate the deal has been brought to a head by last Thursday's assembly election results, which saw Sinn Fein become the biggest party for the first time.

Under the power-sharing agreement in Northern Ireland, the biggest nationalist party is supposed to share power with the biggest unionist party - in theory, Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill would become first minister with the leader of the DUP being deputy.

However, the DUP collapsed Northern Ireland’s power-sharing Executive earlier this year as part of its protest against the Protocol and has vowed not to re-enter government until their concerns are met.

When will there be a next first minister in Northern Ireland? Peter Smith explains

He told Sky News' Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "That stability is being put at risk, imperilled if you like, by the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol, that's something that affects communities across the board.

"It's clear from the dynamic that we now see that we won't get to that position of stability unless and until it is fixed."

Speaking after Sinn Fein's victory was confirmed, party president Mary Lou McDonald said the Stormont power-sharing Executive needed to be re-established.

She said: “We look forward to an Executive being established, I look forward to Michelle O’Neill being nominated as first minister and to have politics that delivers for people.

“We would appeal to everybody to take stock, take breaths and really assess the huge responsibility that all of us carry.

“Collectively we have an obligation to get government up and running.”

However, the Executive can only be re-established with the support of the DUP - the biggest union party - and when asked whether Northern Ireland would have a devolved government in 2022, party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: “Let’s cross all the bridges when we get to them.”

Mr Raab said that the Westminster government would take “whatever measures are necessary” to resolve the issues around the protocol, but refused to say whether action on it would be included in Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech.

He suggested the protocol would be dealt with in the coming “weeks and months”.

Also on Sunday, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis confirmed he will meet with the leaders of the Stormont parties on Monday to talk about resurrecting the Assembly.

Speaking to ITV News, Mr Lewis said that getting the Executive back up and running is "certainly going to be the focus for all of us".

He continued: "We want to see the nominations, we want to see Stormont up and running with a full Executive which can begin getting on with the decisions which need to be made for the benefit of the people of Northern Ireland.”

Mr Lewis also blamed the EU for the DUP's decision to collapse the power-sharing agreement earlier this year, saying the bloc's interpretation of the Protocol was too "rigid".

He said the current rules are not only "putting pressure on Northern Ireland" and was "disruptive" to trade, but because they caused the collapse of the Executive they were putting the Good Friday Agreement "under threat".

"We need to see that resolved," he added.

"We’re very clear we want to get a resolution to that as quickly as possible.”

Mr Lewis hinted Article 16 - a mechanism by which the Protocol can be backtracked on - could be triggered if the UK and EU could not come to a new "resolution" over the deal.

However, he insisted his party "want to get an agreement with the European Union, that’s the best thing for stability and certainty for business in the long-term".

Meanwhile, Mr Raab added that the Protocol had been used as a "political device" and restated the UK's position that it would be prepared to tear up parts of the deal if an agreement could not be reached with the European Union.

That could trigger a major breakdown in relations between the UK and European Union.

“We will deal with the situation, we will take whatever measures are necessary to protect the economic as well as the constitutional integrity of Northern Ireland,” Mr Raab said.

It comes as, Sinn Fein's vice president Ms O'Neill has said her party's triumph will “usher in a new era”.

Her party is committed to a border poll on unification with Ireland, although that is not a likely prospect in the short term, with Mr Raab pointing out that a majority of voters in Northern Ireland had not supported Sinn Fein’s position.

“If you look at the results in Northern Ireland, 58% fully of people voted either for parties who support the Union or for parties who do not support constitutional change and that is the message from the people of Northern Ireland,” Mr Raab told Sky News.

“We don’t have an executive yet, I think the first priority, mindful of that 58% of people in Northern Ireland who are not calling for that kind of change, is to get the executive up and running.”

When asked by ITV News whether the Conservative government was presiding over the break-up of the UK, following gains for the SNP in Scotland and Sinn Fein, Mr Raab said his party was "aware of those pressure" and that in Northern Ireland voters were focused on "stability and the bread and butter issues they face".

Are the Tories presiding over the break-up of the UK? Dominic Raab is asked

Across the UK the Conservatives lost almost 500 seats on local councils, and overall control of Westminster, Barnet and Wandsworth.

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