Elections to the
Northern Ireland Assembly are due on 5 May 2022. The Assembly comprises 90 Members, referred to as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).
Northern Ireland's Agriculture Minister (Edwin Poots MLA), ordered a halt to post-Brexit checks on food and farming products entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. The Minister's order was to take effect from midnight on Wednesday 2 February 2022 and Mr Poots stated that he had taken legal advice as to the legality of his order.
The UK government Secretary of State for
Northern Ireland (Brandon Lewis MP) responded by saying that this was a matter for the Executive in Northern Ireland -
Halt to post-Brexit NI Protocol checks ‘matter for Executive’ as Brandon Lewis confirms UK won’t intervene - BelfastTelegraph.co.ukAgriculture, the Environment and Rural affairs are matters transferred to Northern Ireland under devolution arrangements BUT international relations (including with the European Union) continue to be within the remit of the UK government - (Northern Ireland Act 1998 Schedule 2 para 3).
Negotiations between the UK and the EU are on-going regarding the Northern Ireland Protocol which is an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement under which the UK left the EU. The position with the negotiations at 13 January 2022 is noted HERE. A key purpose of the Protocol was to avoid a hard land border across the island of Ireland. That was considered necessary to protect the 1998 Northern Ireland Peace settlement.
The order from Mr Poots was followed, on 3 February 2022, by Northern Ireland's First Minister (Paul Givan MLA) resigning. Under the devolution "power-sharing" arrangements, that meant that the Deputy First Minister (Michelle O'Neill MLA) ceased to hold her role.
In the High Court of Northern Ireland, Mr Justice Colton has granted interim relief which places Mr Poots' order on hold pending a judicial review hearing planned for March 2022 - Northern Ireland ports checks continue as judge suspends Edwin Poots' order - Belfast Live
One consequence of the resignation of the First Minister is that the Northern Ireland Executive cannot meet but other Ministers continue in post. The intricate workings of government in Northern Ireland are well explained by the Institute for Government in a post updated on 4 February 2022 -
How the Northern Ireland government works | The Institute for Government
Unionist politicians in Northern Ireland dislike the Northern Ireland Protocol claiming that it harms the position of Northern Ireland as an integral part of the UK. Also, many MPs at Westminster dislike it and the dislike is by no means confined to just Conservative MPs - see the
article by UK in a Changing Europe 2 December 2021.
As the UK in a Changing Europe article notes, there is a clear (and troublesome) divergence between the views of MPs in London and public opinion in Northern Ireland. According to various reports, at least a small majority of people in Northern Ireland now view the Protocol in a positive light - e.g.
ITV News 27 October 2021 and see the views of Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister (Leo Varadkar) who said in December that Northern Ireland's economic performance shows the protocol to have been a success -
‘Very clear’ Northern Ireland Protocol is working, Leo Varadkar says - BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
UK in a Changing Europe has taken a closer look at the impact of the Protocol on business.-
The impact of the protocol on business in Northern Ireland - UK in a changing Europe (ukandeu.ac.uk).
This notes that - "2021 was a very difficult year for all traders in Northern Ireland. A lack of time, detail, knowledge and experience exacerbated what was always going to be a hugely difficult adjustment, particular in the middle of a pandemic. This resulted in costs and supply chain disruption which harmed performance throughout 2021. Whilst businesses are ‘Protocol pragmatists’ the results confirm that there are problems within the new arrangements which need to be resolved. Two thirds want the Protocol fixed, one fifth want it ditched."
Will the forthcoming elections in Northern Ireland help to resolve the issues around the protocol? That question cannot be answered except by the voters who will have the opportunity to choose either MLAs who are favourable to the protocol or those who are not.
Brexit in general:
UK government - "Benefits of Brexit"
Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment