LAST UPDATE | 26 Jun 2021

INCOMING DUP LEADER Jeffrey Donaldson has warned the Irish Government to stop “cheerleading” for the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Donaldson, who became leader-designate on Saturday, signalled that north-south relationships will be impacted if Irish ministers do not change stance.

He accused the administration in Dublin of only advocating for the nationalist side of the community in Northern Ireland and ignoring the concerns unionists have over the imposition of Irish Sea trade barriers under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

After his leadership bid received the endorsement of the DUP electoral college today, Jeffrey was asked about engagement with the Irish Government going forward.

“I want to make clear to the Irish Government that their cheerleading for the Protocol is simply not acceptable, given the harm that it is doing to Northern Ireland, it is dragging our politics backwards,” he said.

Earlier this year, DUP Stormont ministers engaged in a de facto boycott of north-south political meetings with Irish Government ministers as part of their campaign of opposition against the new Irish Sea trading arrangements.

Outgoing DUP leader Edwin Poots announced a re-engagement in such meetings after holding talks with Taoiseach Micheal Martin in Dublin earlier this month. However, a planned meeting of the North South Ministerial Council was cancelled last Friday amid the turmoil surrounding Mr Poots’s dramatic resignation as party leader the night before.

Jeffrey said it will be inevitable that north-south relations will be damaged if the east-west relationship between Britain and the island of Ireland continues to be “harmed” by the Protocol.

“The Irish Government and the Irish Prime Minister (Mr Martin) have made clear that they want to protect the peace process, they want to protect political stability in Northern Ireland,” he said.