The Irish Government must work with unionists to right the wrong of the Northern Ireland protocol if it is “serious” about protecting the Belfast Agreement and the peace process, the new DUP leader has said.
Jeffrey Donaldson said that “of course I want to have a good relationship with our neighbours” but that Dublin “cannot have its cake and eat it.
“It can’t on the one hand demand and expect normality in the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic and at the same time support something that damages our relationship with the United Kingdom,” he said.
Mr Donaldson delivered a keynote speech in Belfast on Thursday setting out his vision for the party and for Northern Ireland and how he would address the challenges ahead, which include the protocol and North-South relations.
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Describing the protocol as the “greatest threat to the economic integrity of the United Kingdom in any of our lifetimes”, he said that in the weeks ahead “our goal is to remove the Irish Sea border and to preserve and protect the internal UK market.”
He said he had recently held meetings with the UK government about the protocol but there was “still some way to go to reach an outcome that we can live with”.
Collapse Stormont
Asked if he was prepared to collapse the North’s powersharing institutions if the protocol was not removed, Mr Donaldson replied: “I wouldn’t use those words...the protocol threatens, not me, the protocol threatens the stability of the political institutions.
“It is the problem, and that problem needs to be resolved.”
Thursday morning’s event was Mr Donaldson’s first official engagement as DUP leader after he was unanimously ratified as the party leader at a meeting of the party’s executive late on Wednesday.
He said on Thursday that he would discuss the makeup of his executive team with party colleagues over the next few days.
“I want to build a strong and united team, I want our team to reflect the diversity of opinion within the party and I think you will see from the appointments that I will make that that is the case.”
On the role of first minister, Mr Donaldson said that “whether it be the election next May or there may be an opportunity before that ... if it arises I will take that opportunity to return to the Assembly and to lead from the front”.
Cheerleads
Answering questions from reporters after the speech, he said that when the Government “cheerleads for the protocol” it needed to understand it harmed the relationship between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
“If the Irish Government is serious - and we hear the prime minister and others in Dublin talk about protecting the [BELFAST]Agreement, protecting the peace process - if they are serious about that they need to work with us and with the UK government to right this wrong, to address the difficulties created by the protocol, because if they don’t then the harm is there,” he said.
Mr Donaldson said he would seek to meet the Taoiseach and when he did so, his message would “be very clear.
“Dublin needs to be alert to the concerns of unionists, needs to understand where we are coming from and needs to make a better effort to do so,” he said.
“It cannot be just about protecting the interests of one element of our society because that is not the path to peace, stability and a better future.” That path, he said, was one which unionists and nationalists can “walk together.”
Addressing the gathering of DUP Assembly members (MLAs), MPs and peers, Mr Donaldson said he was “determined” to unify the party and make a strong and widespread case for the Union.
Internal turmoil
Referring to the DUP’s internal turmoil and battles over the leadership, he offered an apology for recent months, which he said had not been the “proudest” in the DUP’s history.
DUP MLA for North Down Alex Easton quit the party on Thursday, saying in a statement to the Belfast Telegraph that there was “no respect, discipline or decency” in the party.
It means the DUP is no longer the largest party in the Assembly, with both it and Sinn Féin on 27 seats. However, this will not affect the designation of First and Deputy First Minister.
Mr Donaldson said he was “greatly saddened” by Mr Easton’s decision and he intended to speak to him and that the path back to the DUP would remain open to him.
In the speech, he said that over the coming months the party would be guided by five core objectives.
These included the removal of the Irish Sea Border’s “pernicious impact on our trading and constitutional position” and ensuring devolution was placed on a “stable and sustainable basis”, as well as prioritising the health service and economic recovery and broadening support for Northern Ireland’s place in the Union.
‘Shrill lectures’
The Ulster Unionist peer Lord Maginnis, meanwhile, called on Thursday for a “return to the politics of civility, mutual respect and friendship” between North and South following months of “shrill lectures” over Brexit and the Northern Ireland protocol.
Ken Maginnis is a former MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone and was a senior negotiator in the talks which led to the Belfast [Good Friday] Agreement.
“We have witnessed arrogance and political lecturing which has done nothing whatsoever for North-South relations,” Mr Maginnis said.
“The notable exception has been the words of the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, who, more than others, recognises how unhelpful and, indeed, incendiary the words of his government colleagues can be.”
“If there’s any dialling down of the rhetoric, it must be on the part of the Tániste and his party colleague, Mr Coveney.
“Only then will we be able to re-set North-South relations in a spirit of mutual respect and move on in this new EU-free political era,” he said.
