Northern Ireland

Michelle O'Neill warns protocol legislation creates uncertainty for business

Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill speaking with media as party colleagues Caoimhe Archibald and Conor Murphy watch on after a factory visit to Dungannon based design and manufacturing company EDGE Innovate. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire 
Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill speaking with media as party colleagues Caoimhe Archibald and Conor Murphy watch on after a factory visit to Dungannon based design and manufacturing company EDGE Innovate. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire  Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill speaking with media as party colleagues Caoimhe Archibald and Conor Murphy watch on after a factory visit to Dungannon based design and manufacturing company EDGE Innovate. Picture by Liam McBurney/PA Wire 

Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O'Neill has warned that British government legislation on the Northern Ireland Protocol has created uncertainty for businesses.

Speaking during a visit to a factory in Co Tyrone, Ms O'Neill said: "The reality is that the actions of Boris Johnson, the actions to unilaterally disapply parts of the protocol will have a negative impact on businesses like this.

"It creates more uncertainty so that is not in the best interests of the people here, it is certainly not in the best interests of the business community here.

"There are ways to smooth the protocol but that needs to be done in an agreed fashion between the EU and the British government.

"The Boris Johnson approach of running roughshod over the protocol, undermining the protocol, undermining the Good Friday Agreement, undermining political stability is just not acceptable and it is not the way to go.

"Boris Johnson's Bill is unilateral action, it is breaching international agreements, it is running a coach and horses over the protocol that they themselves signed up to. There is only one bad faith player in the middle of this Brexit debacle and that is Boris Johnson and the Tory party."

Ms O'Neill has said investors will think twice about spending in Northern Ireland due to uncertainty over the protocol.

She said: "I think the EU have always been very pragmatic, they have understood more than the Tories in London the need to protect the Good Friday Agreement.

"That pragmatism is what we need to see in terms of what needs to happen next. An agreed way forward is the only way forward.

"This approach of Boris Johnson is just reckless, it is dangerous and it creates even more economic uncertainty.

"If you were a local company who wants to sell into the European market for the future, that investor will think twice because of the uncertainty here.

"So Boris Johnson is jeopardising jobs here, all for what is going on within the Tory party. Boris Johnson and the Tories will never act in the interests of people here."

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said there is no timetable to return to power-sharing at Stormont as the party needs to see the British government legislation on the Northern Ireland Protocol progressing through Parliament.

Speaking on College Green in Westminster, Sir Jeffrey said: "We haven't completed our initial assessment of the legislation.

"We want to do that and then we'll talk to the government about where we go from here."

He added: "There's a long way to go with this legislation. It will take months to pass through the Commons and the Lords unless the government decides to escalate the timetable for the bill, and we haven't heard that.

"So, we will consider what happens in the legislative process, but at this stage we haven't come to a view as to when the institutions might be restored.

"We want that to happen but we need to be sure that this bill is moving forward, and that this bill will be enacted.

"That is fundamentally important for us. A solution can only work once the legislation is in place."

Sir Jeffrey's said the British government's plans to over-ride parts of the international deal which was struck over Northern Ireland's post-Brexit trading arrangements had the "potential" to solve issues created by the protocol.

He told reporters in Westminster: "As a party, we're still examining the legislation, we're looking at how it meets our several tests that we had outlined at the beginning of this process.

"We believe it has the potential to provide a solution on the difficulties created by the protocol."

He added: "It is important that Northern Ireland is treated fairly and that the new arrangements are put in place and can command cross-community support; that is the key to restoring dependable institutions."

He said he welcomed the British government's steps and that his party had had "positive" and "constructive" engagement with ministers.