DUP: As Jeffrey Donaldson issues threat over power sharing, DUP leader takes care not to shut door on Brexit deal – Independent.ie

NO SURPRISE that the Democratic Unionist Party leader chose the day the EUs key Brexit person was in town to issue his latest big threat: collapsing power sharing if the Norths special trade status is not changed in a big way.

ut Jeffrey Donaldson also spent a lot of time couching this threat in as much reasonable language as possible.

And he notably did not shut any door on potential compromise, seeking major change to the so-called Northern Ireland EU Brexit Protocol but not its abolition.

The EUs representative, the unflappable Commissioner Maros Sefcovic who is spending two days meeting all concerned by Brexit in the North, urged everyone to talk less and work more.

Lets dial down the political rhetoric, lets bring calm and focus on what is our task to accomplish, the Slovakian Commissioner said after meeting business people in Newry.

Mr Donaldson has been in trouble since he took over as DUP leader in late June. An opinion poll at the end of last month put his party on less than half its vote take in their last electoral outing, and in joint fourth place on level terms with the nationalist SDLP and cross-community Alliance Party.

The two other unionist parties, the more moderate Ulster Unionist Party, which was eclipsed by the DUP in 2004, and the more hardline True Unionist Voice, are both ahead of Mr Donaldsons party.

Internally, his own partys activists have been adding to the pressure by urging him to stand up to Dublin, the EU, Sinn Fin and the SDLP.

But he is also boxed in as any move for elections in the North earlier than those scheduled for next May would spell disaster given those opinion poll ratings.

So, he announced the withdrawal from North-South government co-operation bodies something that is half-happening already all the while pledging to continue health and anti-Covid co-operation to stave off allegations of irresponsibility.

The DUP leaders speech was long and nuanced, taking half an hour to deliver. In essence he said if the protocol was not changed,then the DUP would have to quit power-sharing, and this would become clear over the coming weeks

TaoiseachMichel Martinsaid the DUP leaders statement posed new challenges. But after meeting also with Mr Sefcovic Mr Martin said the EU was willing to make the necessary compromises if met in the proper spirit by the UK negotiators.

The deadlock has remained the same since the start of the year. The UK Government signed up to a political deal in late 2019, reinforced by a trade deal in 2020, which prevented a renewed visible north-south border in Ireland after Brexit.

But to protect the EUs single market there must be checks on some goods coming from Britain into the North. The UK originally sought to deny and downplay the importance of these checks. But more recently Boris Johnsons government has taken up the cudgels on behalf of the Northern unionists and claimed these checks are tougher and more widespread than originally understood to be happening.

The EU has flatly refused UK demands to reopen the Northern Ireland Protocol but is open to talks aimed at smoothing out implementation difficulties.

Northern Ireland business people have signalled their preference for some kind of compromise arguing that the bigger trade picture is best served in this way.

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DUP: As Jeffrey Donaldson issues threat over power sharing, DUP leader takes care not to shut door on Brexit deal - Independent.ie