Brexit: ‘Complete instability’ looms in Northern Ireland as ‘tough guy’ approach is not helping, warns Irish minister
A “tough guy” approach when it comes to Northern Ireland will lead to “disaster”, Irish minister for European affairs Thomas Byrne warned this morning.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if there is a serious danger of a full-scale trade war, Byrne said: “There is a serious danger of complete instability in Northern Ireland and that’s what motivates the Irish Government in all of our dealings in relation to the protocol.”
He said the countries involved have worked together for decades to ensure stability, saying “we now have a division, it seems, because of threats by the British Government to, what they say, is to suspend the protocol under Article 16. We’re not entirely clear what that’s about.”
Challenged on current instability in Northern Ireland and the current arrangements, he said: “I don’t think that the people who are burning buses in Northern Ireland at the moment … are fully aware of all of the details and the intricacies of the protocol. What they need to see, and what people in Northern Ireland need to see, is both governments working together.”
He said the EU has listened to the concerns of Northern Ireland and is in “solutions mode”, adding: “A tough approach, or a tough guy approach, when it comes to Northern Ireland can only be counter-productive and will lead to disaster.”
He said he is “very glad despite that gloomy atmosphere” that there are talks taking place on Friday, adding “there is a prize of stability and peace in Northern Ireland” as well as continuing good diplomatic relations between Britain and the EU.