It would be a “grave mistake” to put the Northern Ireland protocol row on the “long finger” in the absence of political compromise, former taoiseach Bertie Ahern has told Westminster MPs.
Addressing the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in the House of Commons on Monday, Mr Ahern said that while unionist concerns over the post-Brexit trade deal “cannot be railroaded”, the DUP’s demands “can’t be fully adhered to”.
He insisted that resolving the row “isn’t rocket science”, adding: “I do not accept that we’re dealing with the impossible.”
The North has been without a power-sharing Executive for almost a year after the DUP’s former first minister Paul Givan quit in protest over the protocol.
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Mr Ahern described the deadlock as “beyond comprehension” and reiterated his belief that a deal can be achieved “with compromise”.
“When you think of the things that we resolved: we got the IRA to decommission their arms, we released prisoners, I signed my name to release orders for some people who killed policemen and got 40 years, we reformed the old RUC to now a very competent international PSNI.”
He added that despite these agreements, “we can’t find a way of working out how sausages and rashers will work on the internal market”.
“I mean, it’s beyond comprehension, there has to be a solution that is unique to Northern Ireland,” he said.
Mr Ahern was the first witness to give evidence to the committee’s inquiry into the effectiveness of the Belfast Agreement as it approaches its 25th anniversary.
Reflecting on the successes of the landmark peace deal, he also spoke of his “deep regret” over the “stop-start” nature of Stormont “for prolonged periods” – saying the institutions of the agreement have “unfortunately been down as much as they’ve been up”.
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Hailing the current generation as “our greatest triumph”, Mr Ahern added that the North has still to realise the “full potential” of the peace dividend.
“I don’t want the committee thinking the past 25 years has been about the protocol. So much has been gained, so much has been achieved,” he told MPs.
Mr Ahern was taoiseach from 1997 to 2008 and played a key role in the negotiations which led subsequently to the signing of the agreement in 1998 and the end of the Troubles.
[ Bertie Ahern threatened to stall over Articles 2 and 3 after Belfast AgreementOpens in new window ]
Committee chair Simon Hoare said Mr Ahern was the first taoiseach, former or serving, to give evidence to the committee.
Asked by Mr Hoare whether he thought the “political bravery” of 25 years ago still existed, Mr Ahern said there was a group of politicians involved in the pre-agreement negotiations who worked “incredibly hard” to “try to see if we could compromise”.
So I am 100 per cent for compromise, 100 per cent for trying to accommodate the concerns of people, but I do not think we can long-finger this
— Bertie Ahern
He responded to concerns raised by DUP MLA Jim Shannon about the strength of protocol opposition within the unionist community.
“So let’s be clear, unionist concerns cannot be railroaded,” Mr Ahern said.
“But the demands of unionists can’t be fully adhered to in their ‘seven points’, because I don’t see how you can answer all those points.
“If we don’t get compromise… then we run into a position where for the longer term… we haven’t got a solution and we don’t have [Stormont] institutions.
“And therein lies the problem. So in the absence of compromise, we’re building a future that will be on quicksand, and that’s my concern. So I am 100 per cent for compromise, 100 per cent for trying to accommodate the concerns of people, but I do not think we can long-finger this. I’m not talking about April [the 25th anniversary of the agreement], that’s not the issue.
“We can’t long-finger this into the dim and distant future. That would be a grave mistake.”
Asked by SDLP MP Claire Hanna about the possibility of a Border poll, Mr Ahern replied that the North’s institutions would “need to be up and running for a prolonged period” before that should happen.
He added that any referendum on a united Ireland would require “groundwork” and welcomed recent work by the Royal Irish Academy and University of Notre Dame on “what it would look like”.
“Having a referendum for the good of it is a waste of space. So the concept of an early referendum, in my view, doesn’t arise,” Mr Ahern added.
