TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar's announced "regret" over the Northern Ireland Protocol being imposed without the support of unionists is part of the campaign to smooth the way as the EU and UK inch towards a deal, according to one leading political commentator.
Mr Varadkar said he believes the chances of the deal in the next couple of months were "very real" and he hoped it might happen before the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
While expressing regret for the way the protocol was introduced and rolled out, he balanced that position with a similar one on Brexit being imposed "without the support of both communities".
Commentator Brian Feeney believes the taoiseach’s comments are part of a campaign “to try to mollify the DUP and the British” as the parties move towards a deal.
“He does not apologise, simply regrets that it was imposed without the support of both nationalists and unionists,” Mr Feeney said.
Mr Feeney noted the taoiseach’s comments on Brexit, how it was also imposed on the north without the support of the two communities. He was also clear in his belief the protocol is largely working from an economic point of view, the commentator added.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson welcomed what he described as “the recognition from Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar that it was a mistake to impose a protocol on Northern Ireland against the wishes of unionists”.
Sir Jeffrey said: “This was a mistake with far reaching consequences. It has undermined all three strands of the Belfast and successor agreements. Whilst the taoiseach’s comments are welcome, rather than focus on the past, London, Dublin and Brussels must now redouble their efforts on replacing the Protocol with arrangements that unionists can support.”
In his interview with the BBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the taoiseach said he had "regrets".
"I do have regrets and a regret that I have is that in the same way Brexit was imposed on Northern Ireland without the support of both communities, the protocol was imposed on Northern Ireland without the support of two communities," he said.
"And that wasn't possible at the time for various reasons, in part because the executive was not functioning, so there was no-one to speak for Northern Ireland. But that has created difficulties."
The taoiseach said in economic terms, the protocol was "broadly working", arguing there is no hard border, the single market's integrity has been protected and the north's economy is outperforming the UK.
"But I can understand how unionists and unionist politicians feel that the protocol has weakened the union between Northern Ireland and Britain and also that it exists without them having a proper say as to how it operates."
In a post on social media, former UK Brexit Minister David Frost said his government "argued for a Stormont consent vote on the protocol before it came into force at end-2020. The EU (and) the Irish refused point blank."
Mr Varadkar said: "The possibility of an agreement between the EU and the UK in the next couple of months is very real and, with reasonableness and flexibility on both sides, I think it can be achieved."
He said it would be "desirable" to deliver a deal before the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, but added the date was not a "hard" deadline.
