Triggering Article 16 of Northern Ireland Protocol should be avoided at all costs
TRIGGERING Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol would be irresponsible and should be avoided at all costs, the Taoiseach has warned.
Micheal Martin was speaking after Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said evidence suggests the UK government is preparing to trigger Article 16.
The warning came shortly after a former Irish ambassador to London and the EU said he believes the EU and UK are heading towards a crisis as the row continues to rumble on.
Bobby McDonagh told RTE’s Morning Ireland that if this happens it will trigger a “very significant crisis in British/EU relations and Irish/British relations”.
He said the EU’s natural reaction would be to try and work towards a solution and it will continue to do all it can.
NO ALTERNATIVE
However, he added that this requires a degree of sincerity and compromise on the part of the UK under Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Mr McDonagh also said he believes that the EU will have no alternative but to consider some sort of trade action.
But speaking to reporters in Cork, Mr Martin explained that nothing was certain regarding the triggering of Article 16 and urged both sides to reach an agreement.
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Here, the TAOISEACH outlines his views on the matter.
MICHEAL MARTIN
I don't think anything should be taken as inevitable in respect of the current talks on the Protocol that are under way between the European Union and the government of the United Kingdom.
I think what I have said consistently and what I said in the Dail last week is that this is much more than just about the Protocol.
Obviously EU/UK relations are very important over time and they should be a relationship that is built on sustained trust.
They should be constructive and they should lead to the mutual benefit of both citizens of the UK and citizens of the EU.
The relationship between Ireland and Great Britain is a fundamental one.
SERIOUS ISSUE
The relationships of the two governments over 30 years has been central to the peace process, central to the architecture of the Good Friday Agreement and there’s an obligation on all parties to take those two fundamental sets of relationships into account before any action is taken.
In my view, triggering Article 16 would represent a very serious issue in the context of both of those relationships so I would say and would hope that the talks that are still ongoing between the United Kingdom and the European Union will bear fruit.
Ireland has been helpful here, both as a member of the European Union and also in terms of sensitising the European Commission to the unique circumstances of Northern Ireland.
That has resulted in (Vice-President of the European Commission) Maros Sefcovic going to Northern Ireland and listening to everybody there on the ground, getting a good grasp of what the issues were and then coming forward with a very extensive set of measures that took people by surprise in terms of the extent of those measures which, I believe, if there is a will, should lead to a positive conclusion to these talks.
BIGGER PICTURE
I think people must keep the bigger picture in mind as we negotiate our way through this.
We should be aware of self-fulfilling prophecies in that sense, so nothing, as I say, is certain in that regard.
We’ve been here before. Negotiations are still under way. There is still engagement between the UK and the European Union.
As I said in the Dail last week, and I stand over my comments, I think it would be reckless and irresponsible to trigger Article 16. I do think, and I believe, that all parties need to take on board the fundamental importance of the relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom and the relationship between the Irish Government and the British government in terms of what has happened over the last 30 years.
Working with the parties in Northern Ireland to transform the lives of the people of Northern Ireland.
ONE STEP AT A TIME
Nothing should be done, in my view, unilaterally that would endanger that architecture. Let’s take it one step at a time . . . The immediate focus is on the negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom in terms of my officials. I wouldn’t describe it as ‘a politics of appeasement’. I would describe it as a very sensitive, constructive engagement, as being solution focused — the European Union has been solution focused.
The European Union has also been conscious of the overall framework of peace and the importance of the Good Friday Agreement.
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That’s the spirit in which they have entered into the engagement, the European Union — and hence the changes that they have brought forward.
That’s why I think that should be met, that generosity of spirit should be reciprocated by the UK government.