Northern Ireland

British government accused of 'extreme bad faith' over extension of Irish Sea border grace periods

Michelle O'Neill said the British government had helped 'up the ante and create even more uncertainty'
Michelle O'Neill said the British government had helped 'up the ante and create even more uncertainty' Michelle O'Neill said the British government had helped 'up the ante and create even more uncertainty'

THE British government has been accused of displaying "extreme bad faith" over its unilateral extension of Irish Sea border grace periods.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill claimed it had helped "up the ante and create even more uncertainty" with a move that sparked an angry reaction in Brussels and Dublin.

Downing Street earlier this week extended an exemption period applying to red tape on the movement of supermarket goods from Britain into Northern Ireland, claiming efforts to reach agreement with the EU had run out of time.

It was followed with similar action last night, this time extending grace periods for parcels until October.

The move could result in the EU launching legal action and also delay the European Parliament's ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement.

Dublin's Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said yesterday the EU was negotiating with a partner it "simply cannot trust".

He described Wednesday's extension of grace periods by six months as "very frustrating" for Brussels.

"This is not the first time this has happened, that they are negotiating with a partner that they simply cannot trust," he said.

"That is why the EU is now looking at legal options and legal actions which effectively means a much more formalised and rigid negotiation process as opposed to a process of partnership where you try to solve problems together, so this is really unwelcome."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted "goodwill and common sense" would deliver a resolution.

"Obviously these are matters for continuing intensive discussions with our friends," he said.

"I'm sure with a bit of goodwill and common sense all these technical problems are eminently solvable."

Ms O'Neill said the British government had gone on a "solo run" rather than using the proper channels to resolve issues around the protocol.

"I think that the British government have again acted in bad faith and they have demonstrated by their very deed that they are untrustworthy, that they're not reliable, that they're not true to their word when it comes to a negotiation," she said.

"That's form which the British government have demonstrated time and time again. In this case I believe they're on the wrong side of public opinion and they're clearly on the wrong side of international law."

But First Minister Arlene Foster defended the British government and accused the European Commission of "simply not listening to what was going on in Northern Ireland".

She also criticised Mr Coveney, saying he needed to "reflect on his comments".

"He's not listening to the unionist people of Northern Ireland, he's ignoring them, hoping we'll go away – well we'll not go away," the DUP leader said.

Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken also accused the Dublin government and EU of ignoring the "genuine and legitimate concerns of the unionist community".

Secretary of State Brandon Lewis defended his government's move and said he was “disappointed” by the Dublin government's response.

He said there had been efforts to resolve the issue of grace periods with the EU before the unilateral action was taken and insisted it was not an attempt to undermine the protocol.

"There was a timing issue, if we hadn't moved to take some decisions this way there was a very real risk that actually what we've had in a few weeks would have been back to the issues with empty shelves," he said.

Mr Lewis said the action was "about ensuring that the protocol's integrity".

"I don't see our actions this week as an escalation and just a very sensible and pragmatic approach and something we've been talking to the EU about for some weeks and we'd hoped that we would have got an agreement with the EU on them before now," he said.

SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole said failure to resolve the protocol issues would impact on people and businesses in Northern Ireland.

"The UK government, the Irish government and the European Union have a moral obligation to act in a way which eases tensions and resolves difficulties – it’s time we all started talking like partners again," he said.