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DUP politician Paul Givan has called for Article 16 to be triggered amid continuing anger from Unionists over the implementation of the Brexit protocol. Mr Givan told GB News the protocol had not received the consent of the Unionist community and had damaged the institutions of shared governance in Northern Ireland. Amid negotiations between the EU and UK over the handling of the Protocol, Mr Givan urged Lord Frost and Boris Johnson to trigger Article 16.
Mr Givan said: “The Democratic Unionist Party have been clear these institutions have been formed upon what is a delicate balance that reflects east-west relationships with Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of course the north-south relationships here on the island of Ireland.
“As a result of the protocol, not a single unionist here in the Northern Ireland assembly gave support to it.
“It undermined the principle of consent that is contained with the Belfast Agreement.
“Unless action is taken these institutions are simply not sustainable into the future.”
“We want these institutions to work because we want to be able to deliver on all that issues that matter to people whether that is health, housing, education.
“But because of the protocol, all the people of Northern Ireland are being harmed.
“They are unable to get goods on their shelves.
“There is costs increasing in order to put food on people’s tables.
The Irish Foreign Affairs Minister has said that he does not believe that the UK Government will trigger Article 16 in the near future.
Simon Coveney said on Wednesday that he did not think it was likely that Boris Johnson’s Government would take what is seen to be the nuclear option of triggering Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Mr Coveney was speaking following comments by Brexit minister Lord Frost at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, in which he hinted that action over Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal could be taken by Christmas as he called for “short, intensive” talks with the EU to get underway swiftly.
If the UK and the EU cannot strike an agreement, Lord Frost said Britain will consider using Article 16.
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