Politics

Johnson’s departure presents a ‘glorious opportunity’, says Ahern

Progress on North impossible under prime minister because he found it ‘a nuisance’, suggests former taoiseach

Work should be done with trade organisations in the North over the summer in order to formulate new proposals on the protocol, said Bertie Ahern. Photograph : Laura Hutton / The Irish Times
Work should be done with trade organisations in the North over the summer in order to formulate new proposals on the protocol, said Bertie Ahern. Photograph : Laura Hutton / The Irish Times
Sun Jul 10 2022 - 17:12

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has claimed Ireland has a “glorious opportunity” to repair its fraught relationship with the UK following the resignation of British prime minister Boris Johnson whom he says viewed Northern Ireland as a “nuisance”.

In an interview with This Week on RTÉ Radio 1, Mr Ahern said that the outgoing Conservative party leader failed to have a consistent line of policy on the North and that his secretaries of state were not as committed to the job as appointees under the Blair, Cameron and Brown Governments.

Declining to name names Mr Ahern said that some Northern secretaries had the aim of leaving the role as soon as was considered reasonable and that the large turnover was damaging.

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“The only thing they wanted to achieve when they went in to the job, was how quickly they could get out of it. This is something we have all suffered on and that is the hard reality,” said the former taoiseach.

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“The reason we had some very good Secretary of States under Cameron, Blair and Gordon Brown is because the prime minister took a personal interest in the issue. They wanted people that would be able to carry forward their agenda and the reason we did well under those successive prime ministers was because they were interested.

“Boris wasn’t. He quite frankly, I think, found Northern Ireland a nuisance. That is why he moved from one side to the other. He had not got a consistent line of policy. Boris is history so we now have to try and work really really hard to get a good relationship with the next crew in.”

He said that the Irish Government will have to work really hard to make progress when the new British prime minister takes office. He indicated that the Irish Government should use this time to explain what the protocol is and to go back over the history of it.

“It is a glorious opportunity to try and amend what has happened (with Irish and UK relations) over the last number of years. The relationship has been fraught since 2019 and it has just gotten worse since.”

When asked if some of the candidates for prime minister in the UK might “play to the gallery” leaving the North in an even worse situation, Mr Ahern admitted this was a possibility. However, he stressed he was optimistic for the future. “I have always been that,” he said.

“We should go into it not with the view that it could be worse and we could get a more difficult person. We have to go in to it with a sense of explaining why it is important. Equally we have to be very clear in saying that we know from the trade groups within Northern Ireland that there are difficulties in the complexities of what they have to do to comply with the protocol.

“It would be well worth using this period of the summer to work out with the trade organisations what it is that they need so that can be presented clearly. If we go in with the position that we are not prepared to change anything then we will be as bad as the European Research Group who just want the protocol out. We have to be even handed about this and I honestly believe the DUP would be up to a reasonable agreement on this providing it comes through the UK Government.”

Meanwhile, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union Mairead McGuinness told the programme that from the commission’s perspective, nothing has changed in the relationship between it and the UK government since the resignation of Mr Johnson.

“It’s been a roller coaster week for politics and indeed for the British government with the announcement made by Boris Johnson, but the basics of our relationship haven’t changed and the fundamentals of what needs to be finished in relation to Brexit haven’t changed either.”

She stressed that it is very clear from the EU side that the protocol has to be implemented.

“We want it implemented in a way that is flexible, that answers the challenges that businesses are facing in Northern Ireland with its implementation, and that it works for Northern Ireland - for people and for business.

“I think that is still on our table but what has been difficult for us to understand is that idea that unilateral action would solve those difficulties with the legislation that is half way through the process in the House of Commons.

“Obviously we will be looking to what comes of the change in leadership level in the Conservative Party. We need to negotiate a settlement. But the basics and fundamentals of solving problems are only solved around a table and we are still are at that table. We have this unfinished business.”