Is the Northern Irish protocol conundrum about to be solved? We are still a long way off, but discussions are resuming. Rishi Sunak met Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin for the first time on Thursday. A summit held in Blackpool, England.
With our correspondent in London, Marie Boeda
During his visit to Blackpool, Rishi Sunak said he was determined to find an agreement with the European Union and thus put an end to the paralysis of the institutions in Northern Ireland.
” I want to solve this problem “, argued Rishi Sunak. For the first time, a Conservative Prime Minister participated in the Anglo-Irish Council created by the Good Friday Agreement.
The task of the new leader is not easy, because the most sensitive aspect of the Brexit agreement is at stake. The Northern Irish protocol establishes a special customs status for the province to avoid the return of a physical border with the Republic of Ireland. But this measure complicates trade with Great Britain.
For more than six months, Northern Ireland, which belongs to the United Kingdom, has had no government. The pro-British Unionist Party is blocking any formation of an executive until this protocol is abandoned. But its removal would imply commercial retaliation from Brussels.
Micheál Martin left the summit feeling positive, he said. There is now, he says, a window of opportunity “. A British government minister hopes to bring something concrete between now and the next Anglo-Irish summit to be held in 8 months.