Northern Ireland

ANALYSIS: DUP minister's refusal to implement protocol a challenge for Stormont and Westminster

A sign on the main road on the approach to the port town of Larne port protesting against the Irish Sea border.
A sign on the main road on the approach to the port town of Larne port protesting against the Irish Sea border. A sign on the main road on the approach to the port town of Larne port protesting against the Irish Sea border.

THERE have been rumblings for a while that the DUP would use the agriculture brief to frustrate the protocol by refusing to work the system from the inside out.

But it was still something a surprise last night when Gordon Lyons announced his department would no longer be preparing for its long-term implementation, saying he had called a halt to work at ports.

This includes the building of permanent, purpose-built inspection facilities that are necessary for checks on goods arriving into Northern Ireland.

While 'sea border' checks will continue at temporary facilities for now, this potentially throws the future of the protocol into disarray.

It also threatens to cause a major rift in the power-sharing government, sparking calls last night for an emergency meeting of the executive to deal with this unilateral act of defiance by the DUP.

Ministers have a legal duty to construct the facilities under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement's Northern Ireland Protocol document.

This 'down tools' protest by Mr Lyons makes moving forward much more difficult.

But the real problem caused by the DUP refusing to work the protocol will not be felt immediately at Larne or Belfast ports, but in the halls of Westminster.

Boris Johnson has made an agreement with the other EU member states, an agreement that a minister in a devolved region of the UK is now effectively refusing to implement.

This makes the British government look weak in the eyes of EU leaders and raises real questions about the prime minister's own grip on internal domestic affairs.

If the DUP minister refuses to back down and let work continue on preparations for the end of the protocol grace periods, which currently limit bureaucracy, what happens next?

This is a significant development in unionist plans to disrupt the protocol, and the headaches will be felt on both sides of the Irish Sea.