THE EU MUST drop the pretence that the Northern Ireland Protocol is designed to protect the peace process, the DUP leader has said.

Jeffrey Donaldson said unionism is “rapidly losing faith” that a negotiated solution to issues with the protocol can be achieved through the ongoing negotiations between the EU and UK.

The DUP leader, who has repeatedly called on the UK Government to suspend the trading arrangements by triggering the Article 16 mechanism, was speaking after a virtual meeting with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic.

Earlier this month, Donaldson pulled DUP First Minister Paul Givan out of the Stormont Executive in protest at the protocol – a move that removed the powersharing administration’s ability to make any significant decisions.

Sefcovic has been holding talks with the main Stormont leaders ahead of next week’s meeting of the EU/UK joint committee on implementing the protocol.

Four of the five main Stormont parties also held talks with Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney today. Donaldson could not meet Coveney in person in Belfast due to travel logistics but is expected to speak with him in the coming days.

Donaldson, who last year stopped his ministers participating in cross border political meetings as part of his campaign against the protocol, said it is the “greatest threat to progress and prosperity in Northern Ireland of our generation”.

He added: “The EU can no longer keep up the pretence that the protocol was about protecting peace.

“The Irish Sea border does not have the support of a single unionist elected representative. It is divisive and undemocratic. It trashes the cross-community consent principle. The absence of a functioning Executive or North-South structures demonstrates that the protocol is an unrivalled danger to fairness and progress in Northern Ireland.

“Unionism is rapidly losing faith that a negotiated solution is possible.

“It is time for the Government to take actions which restores fairness and reinstates Northern Ireland’s access to the UK internal market. This is the only way to build a better future for everyone in Northern Ireland.”

Sinn Féin’s Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill, who was automatically removed as deputy First Minister when Mr Givan quit, held talks with Mr Sefcovic  and Mr Coveney on Thursday.

She said the majority of people in Northern Ireland do not support the triggering of Article 16.

“There’s no desire here on the part of the wider society around the triggering of Article 16,” she said.

O’Neill said her engagements with Coveney and Sefcovic were “very timely” in advance of next week’s joint committee meeting.

“We hope that there are solutions to be found, if that’s the case remains to be seen,” she said.