UK, EU try to calm tensions in Northern Ireland after splash

Photographer: Simon Dawson / Bloomberg

The UK and EU agreed to work “intensively” to settle their disagreements over the border with Northern Ireland, while trying to resolve a controversy that has rekindled the most contentious element of the Brexit settlement.

UK Cabinet Minister Michael Gove and European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic met with the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Ireland on Wednesday, a discussion that was “productive”, according to a joint statement.

The meeting came after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson threatened to suspend parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol because of the disruption to trade across the Irish Sea. In a letter to Sefcovic, Gove called for an extension of the grace periods to bypass some controls on goods moving between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Tensions had risen significantly over the past week after the European Commission said this would happen controls exports of vaccines to Northern Ireland, blinding British and Irish governments and infuriating unionist political leaders. Although the EU changed course within hours, the move damaged confidence between the two sides.

At a meeting of EU diplomats in Brussels earlier in the day, the Irish ambassador told the Commission that its decision had undermined confidence in the protocol and the peace process it was supposed to protect, according to a note from the meeting seen by Bloomberg News. .

Personnel in Northern Ireland performing post-Brexit checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea have also faced intimidation and threats in recent weeks, a development condemned by Gove and Sefcovic.

“Both unconditionally condemned any threat or intimidation and noted that the safety and wellbeing of the people of Northern Ireland and that of our employees would always be a top priority,” they said.

Democratic Unionist Party leader Arlene Foster continued to demand that the so-called protocol be scrapped.

“Plaster fixes and delay periods that kick the can in the way are not going to solve these problems,” she said. “ The Northern Ireland Protocol has not worked, cannot work. ”

– With help from Ian Wishart

(Adds DUP comments)