Eamonn Mallie says 'farming community doing well under protocol'

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Northern Ireland, under the current protocol agreements, is bringing about “many positives” for people in business, a leading Irish commentator has said, as the deadline for a Stormont Executive to be finalised passed. Eammon Mallie, a longstanding Irish journalist and commentator, claimed the notion that Northern Ireland is “falling apart because of the protocol” is “not true at all”, going so far as to say that the nation was “doing very well” out of it.

His comments came as Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris said a snap election will be called in the nation to finally establish a Government after months of disagreement between Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party. 

Mr Mallie said: “We will get a solution to this. We were in more difficult circumstances running up to the Good Friday Agreement and that agreement happened because the two prime ministers at the time, the Irish Republic leader and the British prime minister, Tony Blair, put their shoulders to the wheel and it happened. 

“This problem is capable of resolution. But, I think there is an imbalance in the argument being promoted throughout the United Kingdom by unionism. 

“The reality is the farming community in Northern Ireland are doing very well out of the protocol. Manufacturing is doing extremely well. 

“So, there is this notion that the country here is falling apart because of this protocol, it is not true. It is not true at all, there are many positives being enjoyed by a lot of people in business in Northern Ireland.” 

One of the first tasks for Rishi Sunak is to address the political stalemate in Northern Ireland, with a lack of government over disagreement on the protocol leaving the nation without a leader. 

The Northern Ireland Protocol bill, which was designed to ensure that Northern Ireland remained in the UK customs territory while also being aligned to a limited set of European single market rules to avoid a hard border with Ireland, is currently going through the House of Lords. 

Commentators had predicted that sectors such as manufacturing and farming would be adversely affected by the current protocol because they would not be able to cater to both sets of customs rules.

Mr Sunak previously said that he believed the current Brexit agreement was causing economic and political harm, calling on the European Union to be more “flexible” in discussion of tariffs and customs rules. 

But Mr Mallie, as well as others, have suggested that while the Bill, which looks to undo much of the original protocol agreement, has yet to be agreed on, the two sectors are still thriving. 

Nonetheless, political issues over the protocol disagreements have not abated, and the Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said on Friday he will call a snap Assembly election to finally bring together a Stormont Executive. The deadline to restore the devolved government at Stormont passed at midnight.

Speaking in Belfast on Friday, he said: “I am deeply disappointed where we are now. This is a really serious situation. As of a minute past midnight last night, there are no longer ministers in office in the Northern Ireland Executive.

“I will take limited but necessary steps to ensure public services do continue and to protect the public finances. But there is a limit to what the Secretary of State can do in these circumstances.”

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Stormont ministers, who have been operating in shadow form since the Assembly collapsed earlier this year, also ceased to hold office at midnight. Responsibility for running devolved departments will now pass to senior civil servants, although their powers are limited.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said on Friday morning he is prepared to form an executive but only when the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol is resolved.

He said: “What we need is the protocol resolved. In the six months from May look what has happened, we’ve had chaos at Westminster, we’ve had three prime ministers, we’ve had Government changing almost every week. In that time, nothing has moved forward in resolving the protocol and this is a major problem for us.

“I am simply saying we need to find a solution, my party stands ready to play its part, we will form an executive as soon as that solution is found.”

Asked if it is resolved, would the DUP be in an executive with Sinn Fein, he added: “Yes, I have said just as we respect the mandates that other parties have been giving, we only ask that our mandate is respected.” 

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