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THE TAOISEACH HAS said he is “quietly confident” that an agreement between the EU and UK on the Brexit protocol could be achieved “within the next week or two”.
It comes after British prime minister Rishi Sunak held bilateral meetings with all five of the main Northern Ireland parties at a hotel on the outskirts of Belfast amid mounting speculation that a UK/EU deal on the Irish trading arrangements is close.
Following his visit to Northern Ireland, Sunak is set to join European leaders in Germany this weekend for the Munich Security Conference and the protocol is likely to feature in discussions on the margins.
There is mounting speculation that a deal between the EU and UK could be unveiled early next week.
While Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin has cautioned that he believes there is a “distance to go yet”, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he is “quietly confident” that an agreement between the UK and the EU could be reached soon.
“A lot of progress is being made, we are not there yet but certainly a lot off trust has been built up between the European Commission and Ireland and the British government,” Varadkar told reporters in Limerick today.
“I do believe the prospect is there of having an agreement possibly within a week – it’s not finalised we haven’t all seen the final text yet, but we are getting there,” he continued.
“I’m quietly confident that within the next week or two we could be in a position to sign off on an agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom and that would be a big boost I think, first of all because it would allow us to normalise political and trading relationships between Britain’s and the European Union and Ireland, putting an end to a very difficult period that started with the Brexit referendum.”
“But most importantly, it opens the prospect of getting the Assembly and Executive up and running in Northern Ireland so that people have a government functioning in Northern Ireland and have the Good Friday Agreement working again.”
Speaking to broadcasters in Downing Street this evening, Sunak said he had “positive conversations” with political parties to resolve the Protocol issues, but that “there is more work to do” on finding a deal.
“Now it is clear that we need to find solutions to the practical problems that the Protocol is causing families and business in Northern Ireland, as well as address the democratic deficit,” he said.
“There is more work to do, and that’s why my ministerial colleagues and I will continue talking to the European Union intensely to find solutions that protect the Belfast Good Friday agreement and Northern Ireland’s place in our single market.”
In another apparent sign of progress, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly met with European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic.
The cross-community Alliance Party was the first in to meet Sunak at a hotel on the outskirts this morning. Sinn Féin, the DUP, the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP also met with Sunak.
Speaking after his meeting with Sunak, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said that “progress has been made across a range of issues”, but that there is “still some areas where further work is required” to get a deal.
“The decisions that will be taken by the Prime Minister and by the European Commission will either consign Northern Ireland to more division or they will clear a path towards healing and towards the restoration of the political institutions,” Donaldson told reporters.
DUP leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has emerged from his meeting with the prime minister and says that "progress has been made across a range of issues", but there is "still some work required" to get a deal.https://t.co/L20RAQMAiD pic.twitter.com/nefnz6xoYJ
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 17, 2023
Donaldson said the party has not seen the final text of an agreement yet, adding there will be further discussions between the UK government and the EU.
“If and when a final agreement is reached, we will want to carefully consider the detail of that agreement and decide if the agreement does, in fact, meet our seven tests,” he said.
Donaldson said the DUP has been “very clear with the Prime Minister that those seven tests remain the basis upon which we will judge any agreement”.
It was put to Sunak that Donaldson had said the EU needed to “stretch itself to achieve a deal”.
Asked if he agreed, the UK Prime Minister said he had set himself “tests” on any potential agreement with Brussels, including “crucially that we address the democratic deficit”.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said that indications of progress on the Northern Ireland Protocol was heartening.
“It’s clear now that significant progress has been made and we’re very heartened by that,” she said after meeting with Sunak.
When asked about whether a deal on the protocol had been done, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said:
“I believe that very, very significant progress has been made and I believe that a deal is absolutely possible, and absolutely necessary.
“It was a very constructive meeting and it was my first occasion to meet the Prime Minister, but I look forward to many further engagements with him,” McDonald said.
“He accepts that the core of the protocol has worked and he has expressed the need to negotiate and to figure out how to resolve those parts that need a smoother application, or, as he put it, ‘the parts that weren’t working’.
“There’s no doubt, the protocol is a consequence of Brexit and the protocol is necessary, and the Prime Minister is in absolutely no doubt of that.”
Welcome progress. A deal on the protocol must be done. No hard border, protection of the GFA, access to the single market must be maintained. Keep what works, fix what doesn't. Then govt must get back to work. No more delay. pic.twitter.com/g4UVWu4Ls9
— Mary Lou McDonald (@MaryLouMcDonald) February 17, 2023
Speaking after engaging with Sunak this morning, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said he is in listening mode, and that there is “some heavy lifting still to be done” to secure a deal on the Northern Ireland protocol.
She said it was “a very constructive and very positive meeting”.
“He was very much in listening mode and keen to hear our views. It seems apparent that while he was not in a position to brief us about the details, that things are gradually moving in the direction of a potential deal,” Long said.
“But we are not over the line yet. That doesn’t mean that we won’t be very soon, but there’s clearly some heavy lifting still to be done.”
The UK and the EU have been engaged in substantive negotiations over the workings of the protocol, agreed to ensure the free movement of goods across the Irish land border after Brexit.
The protocol instead created economic barriers on trade being shipped from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
It has proven to be deeply unpopular with unionists, who claim it has weakened Northern Ireland’s place within the UK, and the DUP has collapsed the powersharing institutions at Stormont in protest at the arrangements.
Emerging from his meeting with Sunak, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the British Prime Minister had given “scant” detail on the potential deal with the EU.
He said he believed that Sunak was “ticking the box” of engaging with the Stormont parties.
“I think he’s very careful not to get into too much detail until the deal is done and I suppose that’s fair enough,” he said.
Eastwood said he made clear to Sunak that the dual market access provided for in the protocol, allowing business in Northern Ireland to sell unfettered into the EU single market, must be preserved.
“He said the deal is not done yet,” he added.
“I think he’s clear that lots of progress has been made and that’s what we’ve been hearing from the European side and from Dublin as well. But he says it’s not done and he’s going to Munich to see Ursula von der Leyen (European Commission president) and we’ll see what comes out of that.
“But I would be fairly optimistic that we’re very close to an agreement.
“We have to be courageous and we have to take steps that allow local governance to be back up and running to deal with the health service and to pick up the opportunities that the protocol provides for the economy.”
A number 10 spokeswoman said the British Prime Minister was meeting Northern Ireland parties as part of the “engagement process”.
She added: “Whilst talks with the EU are ongoing, ministers continue to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure any solution fixes the practical problems on the ground, meets our overarching objectives, and safeguards Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market.”
The UK Foreign Office also confirmed Cleverly’s Brussels meeting with Sefcovic, saying it was part of “ongoing engagement and constructive dialogue with the EU to find practical solutions that work for the people of Northern Ireland”.
Cleverly said his meeting with Sefcovic was “constructive”.
“We discussed the work ongoing between UK and EU to find a solution on the NI Protocol. Intensive work continues,” he tweeted.
Sefcovic also called the meeting “constructive” and said there had been “good progress”.
“The shared objective clear: joint solutions, responding to the everyday concerns of people in NI. Hard work continues,” he tweeted.
Good to see Foreign Secretary @JamesCleverly again to take stock of the work on the Protocol on IE/NI.
— Maroš Šefčovič🇪🇺 (@MarosSefcovic) February 17, 2023
Constructive engagement. Good progress. The shared objective clear: joint solutions, responding to the everyday concerns of people in NI.
Hard work continues. pic.twitter.com/1aOrNuHQRu
‘Fundamental’
Senior figures within the DUP and the European Research Group of the Tory party have warned that any deal must remove the oversight of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Northern Ireland as well as dealing with trading difficulties.
While it is understood the EU and the UK are close to signing off a deal that would reduce protocol red tape on the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, there is no expectation that Brussels is willing to agree to end the application of EU law in the region.
The EU says a fundamental plank of the protocol – namely that Northern Ireland traders can sell freely into the European single market – is dependent on the operation of EU rules in the region.
Deputy chairman of the ERG David Jones tweeted yesterday: “The Protocol won’t be fixed by displaying green and red signs and pretending the ECJ hasn’t got supreme jurisdiction in Northern Ireland when it manifestly has.
“NI must cease to be subject to laws made in Brussels. It’s as simple as that. Anything less won’t work.”
DUP MP Sammy Wilson said it was “fundamental” that Northern Ireland was not separated legally from the rest of the UK.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, and asked if there is a system they would accept that involves oversight from the European Court of Justice, Wilson said:
“If the issue of being part of the single market rules and single market laws is removed from Northern Ireland, then there’s no need for the European Court of Justice.”
Asked if that is what he is calling for, he said: “It would ensure that Brexit actually applied to Northern Ireland, it would ensure that the UK Government had sovereignty over this part of the United Kingdom and that Northern Ireland was not separated legally from the rest of the United Kingdom as a result of the protocol.
“That’s fundamental. Indeed, that is not something that we have been asking for alone, the Government itself in its command paper last autumn, and in the Protocol Bill which is now stalled in the House of Lords, was demanding that as well and saying that if the EU did not come to that point in negotiations, that they would act unilaterally to ensure that that happened.”
Includes reporting by Press Association and David Raleigh
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What a shower of morons do they not realise that they are damaging the country’s reputation and damaging the company’s long term viability and reputation and therefore it’s ability to offer any more money to shore up the fund. Why are SIPTU not talking about themselves putting more money into their own staff DB pension which is also in deficit. More of the same do as we say don’t do as we do.
No one wants to strike,aerlingus workers have paid into their pensions,are you telling me if someone told you the money you paid into was gone ,you would just say ok.
It did happen to my DC pension scheme following the market collapse but as I was in the private sector there was nothing I or anyone could do. So I still say these morons are wrong and expecting their employer to make up a market shortfall in their pension is nonsense. Tell them to wake up and live in the real world .
As bad as the esb workers threatening to strike during Xmas.
Haven’t SIPTU reduced the benefits from their own Pension Fund due to stock market realities ? Surely this would therefor lead to some reality in terms of how they would deal with shortfalls in Pensions within their Members own Company Funds.
It seems that reality can be replaced in the current circumstance by bully boy greed and plundering as SIPTU sees the current Government as a soft target in the run up to Local and EU Elections.
Isn’t it just wonderful to see such revolting dishonesty where a National Airline and our Major Airports can be closed to travellers on a National Holiday whether they are tourists or business people.
Are we insane to be behaving in this fashion in the middle of the worst economic storm to ever hit our shores or is this madness simply an expression of our greed as a people?
Dont be worrying about the workers Rodgers just as long as the government Ministers and the bond holders are looked after by the Irish tax payer.
Paul Mc, I would like to agree with you but it is true that SIPTU is doing what Aer Lingus want to do. This is 100% gross hypocracy from SIPTU. Of course it doesnt help the airlines case when the CEO gets 1.2 million per year plus a pension top up of about 8%.
Ah to have the luxury of striking.
My entire company lost our pensions too, but as we’re private sector we’re attempting to deal with it privately, ie without pissing off the general public in the process.
SIPTUS PR department logging in en masse to give the thumbs down to any dissenting voice.
I’d say pretty much every private sector worker in the country who had a pension would have a major shortfall after the crash, but we don’t have the “hold the country to ransom when all eyes are on us” negotiating option.
We should ask them to comment on their own failure to deal with the deficit in their own DB pension scheme other than by just cutting their members’ benefits by 20 per cent without any consultation. If they won’t make up the shortfall why do they expect Aer Lingus and others to do it.
Aer Lingus have competitors. They could lose customers permanently to then over this fiasco. It’s always wise for employees to know who pays your wages. It’s your customers. No customers no job no pension. Risky move pissing off the people putting money in your pocket.
You can be sure all our Kildare street travellers will get away without and disruption to their jollies !!
I hope the ones that are not going to attend the parade in New York don’t bother to travel at all
Siptu . Shop stewards back handers brown envelopes . Baggage handler one week supervisor the next .
The Government has a duty to introduce legislation to ban all strikes on special occasions such as St Patricks week!
Has SIPTU executives any patriotic spirit or are they just “blackmailers” in executive clothing?
Do they not realise the Financial crisis this country is in ?
Is SIPTU going to destroy this country again or help to rebuild Ireland as a Tourist Destination ?
The Government should introduce legislation to fine SIPTU at least €100,000 per day if they go on strike at this time?
All the executives of SIPTU should disclose their salaries and all perks and should be dismissed from any Government appointments immediately if they go ahead with the strike.
The Government should withdraw any subsidy it pays to this trade union immediately.
First off all employees of the DAA and Aerlingus were told as part of there contract they had to join a union and join the company pension fund.If you failed to do either you were not given the job.
So fast forward a few years and the pension is screwed.The trustees of the pension, past and present governments and the DAA (Aer Rianta) and Aerlingus have all sat on the fence hoping that this crisis wouldn’t blow up in there face.
Every single employee of both companies has tried and wanted to get out of the pension for years.Every fornight or month employees are throwing there wages into a black hole with no hope of getting it back.
If we were allowed to pull out of the pension fund it would collapse and present retired staff would have no pension each month.
The other problem is both the DAA and Aerlingus stopped new employees from joining the pension scheme. This means that staff who are there 15yrs ect have no one behind them to contribute there pension in years to come.
Talks have been going on for over three years between the trustees union’s and companies. If the government think this will be resolved in four weeks there more stupid than I thought.Yes the strike will be inconvenient for travelling public for 4 hours. But its all the employees of DAA and Aerlingus have left.There democratic right to strike.
Only thing unions ever agreed with is benchmarking
Having accounted for all the CRC topups, TD pensions and other entitlements, how is this any different? Is it a class difference, say “i am entitled to it three times and its yours”. if the goverment does not support interests of common people, how else can they gain attention.
Who is forcing employees to join both union and pension fund? the union – SIPTU
Aerlingus staff do not want to continue paying into the old fund, and Air Lingus management agrees and want to create a new ‘defined benefits’ scheme.
The pension fund has never been viable, as it guarantees pensions payouts linked to final Salary. All risks are therefore taken by the newest employees, eg any fund losses. Its a classic Ponzi scheme.
The union championed and supported this pension while Aer lingus was state owned.
SIPTU is not willing to accept the reduced pension terms without a strike, as this, in their blinked minds, sets a presidence – and they need to stick to the standard union script that a company must also hurt as a warning, regardless of the reality(crash of 08 to 12).
I blame SIPTU organiser Dermot O’Loughlin for this impasse, he needs to be fired and replaced with someone who is not entrenched in antiquated union positions, they need to take a page from Germany’s unions – working closely with management to resolve issues.
Not this ugly, militant, grandstanding, 20th century form of union representation. What can we do to get this man fired and replaced with someone competent?
@peter o brien. Im sorry. Your wrong on most of your statements.As an employee of one of the companies involved in this dispute it was part of our contract to join the pension fund.When I mean contract I mean our employers contract.Nothing to do with siptu.
To explain again we were FORCED to join this pension. No ifs or buts.This was the way it was.You could never leave the pension unless you were leaving either company.
Please don’t take me for a fool.I know the truth about whats going on which is more then I can say for you
I’ve seen the contract and have friends that work in Aer Lingus as independent contractors.
The pensions fund and its contract stipulations were derived over many years between the government and SIPTU. If you are an independent contractor you do not need to pay into the fund, and you not entitled to any of its benefits..
The companies involved get no value from the fund, have no say how the fund is managed or invested, its independent.
As far as current employees wanting to move to a new separate fund.. Thats public knowledge, no insider info there, use google and you will find many references to it from both employees, unions, company, pensions board etc.
I can understand your anger at your current predicament, but you are not going to resolve this dispute by aggression, blackmail, threats etc.. The pension fund is under the direction of independent trustees, who haven’t had the backbone to state to members that the emperor(fund) has no clothes, only coming forward a couple of weeks ago to recommend cuts needed to save the fund…
If anything your anger should be directed to these fund trustees first, these supposed guardians of the fund, secondly to SIPTU for over promising pension entitlements to the determent of the current employees.
Why do you feel its the company/Aer Lingus management fault for the funds current and historic problems?
In the long term, facing the music now, sorting the pension issues out now and not kicking the can down the road (again) is good for both current employees and the companies involved.
Agree to cooperate with their employers. If fire a few to focus the attention of the rest
On the plus side, ferries will get a boost next weekend. I, for one, have booked with Irish Ferries for my long weekend trip to the UK. Takes longer but not worth the anxiety of wondering whether I’ll get there or not.
If employees were forced into pensions then surely legal action would be a good course of action. Take it to European court if necessary. Holding the country to ransom will only serve to alienate the public whereas I believe that people would support legal action. Similar to what ESB workers are doing.
have your say