Éamon Ó Cuív warns of Protocol breach, urges sovereignty talks
Éamon Ó Cuív addressed discussions with the Secretary of State and the minister on Northern Ireland, focusing on the Northern Ireland Protocol, security cooperation and the transfer of powers. He criticised the British government’s signal to legislate around the Protocol as a breach of faith and said issues must be resolved by partnership rather than unilateral action.
Meetings and contacts
The deputy said he remains in regular contact with the Secretary of State and the parties, meeting virtually on 5 May (the day of the Assembly elections) and in person at the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference on 23 March, where political stability, security, cooperation, legacy and rights and citizenship matters were discussed.
Concerns over the Northern Ireland Protocol
He warned that the British prime minister and government have signaled an intent to introduce legislation to set aside elements of the Protocol, calling that a "complete breach of faith" and arguing such unilateral action would undermine partnership needed to resolve outstanding issues. He noted that 53 of the 90 MLAs elected in Northern Ireland are pro-Protocol and said resolution should come through partnership, not illegal unilateral action.
Security cooperation and trial delays
The deputy raised concerns about security practices in Northern Ireland, saying there are Irish citizens awaiting trial for eight years and describing stop-and-search, tagging, and disruptive arrests. He asked whether security cooperation talks have addressed the unacceptability of long waits for trial and the role of Westminster-controlled security forces versus devolved justice arrangements.
Devolved powers and sovereignty questions
He asked whether consideration had been given to extending powers in Northern Ireland similar to those in other devolved jurisdictions such as Scotland, and raised the question of transferring sovereignty from Westminster to the sovereign people of Ireland once the Executive is functioning.
Response from the minister and next steps
The minister said security cooperation discussions have focused on PSNI-Garda cooperation and offered to raise individual cases with the Secretary of State if specific names or cases are provided. The deputy pressed for further attention to British security structures on the island and for partnership-based solutions to protocol and security issues.
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Good morning, and this question relates to discussions that are taking place between the Secretary of State and the Minister in relation to affairs in Northern Ireland, and also to ask if any consideration has been given to give, you know, once the Executive will be up and running, to give additional powers and to transfer sovereignty from Westminster to the sovereign people of Ireland. I have a question. As part of the Government's commitment to support the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement and maintaining strong relationships, I remain, as you would expect, in regular contact with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and with the parties. I met virtually with the Secretary of State on the 5th of May, the day of the Assembly elections, to discuss a number of issues in that important context. Following the results of the elections to Northern Ireland, I spoke with the Secretary of State on Saturday to discuss the outcomes of the elections and the need for both governments to work in support of the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, and we continue to remain in close contact. The Secretary of State and I also met in person at the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference on the 23rd of March, where a number of issues relating to Northern Ireland were discussed, including political stability, security, cooperation, legacy and the rights and citizenship matters. The British Irish Intergovernmental Conference is an important institution of the Good Friday Agreement, bringing together the British and Irish Governments under strand 3 of the Good Friday Agreement to promote bilateral cooperation in matters of mutual interest within the competence of both governments. I take an opportunity if you will allow me to say, if you will allow in terms of intention, if you will allow me. In many ways, one of the most concerning developments in the last number of days has been the signal of intent from the British Government in the context of resolving the outstanding issues on understanding the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol. um uh the the british prime minister and the british government have have signaled that they intend to break international law that they intend to introduce legislation of their own to set aside elements of the protocol that is a complete breach of faith it is um it is something that will undermine partnership which is essential in relation to trying to resolve these issues it is also undemocratic in my view um 53 of the 90 mlas that were elected uh in the elections in northern ireland are pro protocol and if if they were to vote in the morning on the retention of the protocol they would they would vote yes to that um so of course there are issues to be resolved and there's a large unionist community that are very concerned about the implications of the protocol and its implementation but the way to resolve those issues is through partnership not illegal unilateral action as you know i would be opposed to illegal unilateral action and that's why i was very interested when you spoke about security cooperation because in terms of security cooperation there are irish citizens that are waiting eight years for a trial on this island in the northern part of the island and in your discussions on security cooperation have you spoken with the secretary of state as the total unacceptability of people anywhere having to wait eight years for a trial have you raised the issue with them in relation to the fact that the security police in northern ireland comes under westminster not under local authority when you ask the minister of justice there she'll tell you that that security issues are above her pay grade and this has resulted in inordinate amounts of stop and search uh people who are tagged out of bail uh being searched and woken up in the middle of the night etc so i'd be very interested to hear how your security cooperation discussions will be going ahead yeah deputy generally the uh the security cooperation discussion uh revolves around the cooperation between the psni and in gardashi akona if there are individual cases and i know you have mentioned some to me in the past if there are individual cases uh of um of individuals in prison or awaiting trial that you'd like me to raise uh with the secretary of state in terms of getting an answer i'm happy to i'm happy to do that for you um at the last um b double igc uh there weren't specific cases raised um as i say the uh the security cooperation focused primarily on the relationship between the psni and the guardi which is probably stronger than it's ever been uh in terms of cooperation which is a good thing uh and it's something we should uh continue to uh continue to encourage but as i say if you have concerns about uh specific cases i can i can try and inquire about them for you minister deputy i appreciate that minister but my difficulty isn't with guard the psni relationships which is you know naomi long's the devolved justice of northern ireland relationship with department of justice here i'm more concerned with british security security in northern ireland which is a serious problem and in serious impediment to once and for all getting rid of violence on this island and instead of aiding getting rid of it as you know it's having the opposite effect because you know it is my view that it is hard for somebody from outside the island to understand the nuances of history and tradition in this island a second issue i was just wondering is in scotland they have some powers particularly powers over taxation that northern ireland doesn't have and have there been any discussion about extending powers that are in other devolved jurisdictions to the legislature in northern ireland and as i said transferring sovereignty basically from westminster back to irish people of all colors in this island deputy to be honest with you the um the um the focus of the conversations has been trying has been about trying to get stability and a return to a functioning um uh uh executive uh an assembly as soon as possible after this election this has been a divisive election and that's not a criticism of the parties but it has been um and um at the moment um uh we have significant work to do to get uh an assembly uh to elect a speaker and to function and as importantly to get an executive up and running so that northern ireland can ensure that people from northern ireland who are directly elected by people in northern ireland are making political decisions on their behalf um and there are obstacles to that happening i don't believe there is any justification uh for a refusal uh to enter those devolved government structures um and i certainly think that having a functioning executive in northern ireland would assist in trying to resolve some of the outstanding issues linked to the protocol and other issues like legacy for example that we have to deal with as well very much and that will be our focus in the days and weeks
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