Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal was “too strict” and Dublin will be “flexible and reasonable” in attempting to solve the dispute over how it works, Ireland’s new prime minister has said.
Leo Varadkar, who began his second stint as taoiseach last month, said that he understood why the Northern Ireland protocol had made unionists feel less British.
He said: “I’m sure we’ve all made mistakes in the handling of Brexit. There was no road map, no manual, it wasn’t something that we expected would happen and we’ve all done our best to deal with it.
“Again, I look forward to travelling to Northern Ireland early in the new year, meeting with all the parties, and reaching out to all parties and all communities in an effort to find a solution.”
Varadkar played a key role negotiating the protocol, which governs Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading relationship with the rest of the UK and the EU, during his first period leading Ireland from 2017 to 2020. The protocol has become deeply unpopular with unionists because it effectively places a regulatory border in the Irish Sea, with Great Britain free to diverge from EU rules while Northern Ireland must continue to follow regulations from Brussels.
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The UK government has proposed legislation that would unilaterally override parts of the protocol. Power-sharing in Northern Ireland has collapsed, with the Democratic Unionist Party boycotting Stormont in protest at the protocol.
But Varadkar suggested that parts of the protocol might not have to be enacted. He said: “One thing I have said in the past is that, when we designed the protocol, when it was originally negotiated, perhaps it was a little bit too strict. And we’ve seen that the protocol has worked without it being fully enforced.
“And that’s why I think there is room for flexibility and room for changes and we’re open to that and up for that, and I know from speaking to President von der Leyen [of the European Commission] and [Brexit negotiator] Maros Sefcovic, that’s their position too.
“So, we are willing to show flexibility and to make compromises. We do want there to be an agreement.”
Offering a rhetorical olive branch to unionists, Varadkar continued: “I have spoken to a lot of people who come from a unionist background in Northern Ireland over the years. I do understand how they feel about the protocol. They feel that it diminishes their place in the union, that it creates barriers between Britain and Northern Ireland that didn’t exist before.
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“And I do understand that and I do get that. But that’s also true of Brexit. Brexit was imposed on Northern Ireland without cross-community consent, without the support of the majority of people in Northern Ireland, and one of the good things about the European Union was that it diminished barriers and diminished borders between north and south and that was a great reassurance to people who come from a nationalist background in particular.
“So I understand that there are two sides to this story. A lot of people who are unionists feel that the protocol has separated them from Great Britain. A lot of people from a nationalist background in Northern Ireland feel that it separated them from the rest of Ireland.”
