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☆ Work to be done, PM Sunak says 25 years after Northern Ireland peace deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A road sign is seen indicating speed limits are changing from kilometres per hour to miles per hour on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland along the M1 motorway, as seen from Carrickcarnan, Ireland, May 19, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneLONDON, April 10 (Reuters) - A quarter of century since the signing of a peace deal that largely ended violence in Northern Ireland, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said efforts had to be intensified to restore the power-sharing government central to the accord. U.S. President Joe Biden will fly into Northern Ireland on Tuesday to attend events marking the 25th anniversary of the deal, a reflection of the role the United States played in brokering the agreement. "But most importantly, it is based on compromise in Northern Ireland itself. Last month, Britain's MI5 intelligence agency increased the threat level in Northern Ireland from domestic terrorism to "severe" - meaning an attack was considered highly likely.

☆ UK PM Sunak to meet President Biden in Northern Ireland
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Phil Nobel/PoolLONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet Joe Biden in Northern Ireland next week when the U.S. president flies in to take part in events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord. Sunak will greet Biden on Tuesday evening when Air Force One lands for what will be a closely watched visit to both sides of the Irish border at a time of heightened political uncertainty in Northern Ireland. The Good Friday Agreement - signed on April 10, 1998 - largely ended three decades of sectarian bloodshed that had convulsed Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. However the anniversary has been overshadowed by a year-long boycott by Northern Ireland's largest pro-British unionist party of the power-sharing devolved government central to the peace deal. Although that deal has so far failed to restore the devolved government in Northern Ireland, Sunak will seek to bolster his support for the province by announcing a summit later in the year to stimulate international investment.

[1/3] Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) embraces Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern after all parties reached a historic peace agreement April 10, 1998. The peace has utterly transformed the region, largely ending three decades of bitter violence that killed 3,600. "Nothing's ever irresolvable" said Blair, summing up the stubborn optimism many developed working in Northern Ireland at the turn of the millennium. Nationalists, who are mostly Catholic, say Northern Ireland was wrenched from the EU in a UK-wide vote even though its smallest region voted 56% to 44% to remain. "There is an exhaustion and frustration," at the DUP's repeated objections, said Ahern, Irish prime minister from 1997-2008.

☆ Northern Ireland's Orange Order says new Brexit deal needs improvement
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

However, it does not resolve the fundamental concerns," the Orange Order said in a statement on Tuesday. The Windsor Framework continues to treat Northern Ireland as a place apart within the United Kingdom and equal citizenship has not been restored." The statement said the Orange Order would not endorse the deal without "substantial and tangible progress which resolves these fundamental issues". As part of Brexit, Northern Ireland effectively remained in the bloc's single market to avoid a hard border with EU-member Ireland. Business groups have overwhelmingly supported the Windsor Framework, seeing it as removing damaging uncertainties over trading relationships.

☆ Despite opposition, UK's Sunak wins post-Brexit trade vote in parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak won the backing of parliament on Wednesday for a key element of a reworked post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland. Despite the opposition, Sunak won the vote by 515 to 29, suggesting that several in his Conservative Party had abstained on the vote. "The Stormont brake is at the heart of the (Windsor) Framework," Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris told parliament ahead of the vote. "It restores practical sovereignty for the United Kingdom as a whole and the people of northern Ireland in particular." Johnson, the face of the campaign to leave the EU, and his successor, Truss, both said they would vote against the brake.

☆ At what cost? UK PM Sunak to win post-Brexit trade vote in parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sunak has sought to end years of wrangling over Brexit by revisiting one of the trickiest parts of the negotiations - to ensure smooth trade to Northern Ireland without creating a so-called hard border with Britain or the European Union. He agreed with the EU to introduce the "Stormont brake", aimed at offering Northern Ireland more control over whether to accept any new EU laws, as part of the so-called Windsor Framework of measures to soothe post-Brexit tensions. But in Wednesday's vote in the lower house of parliament, those he most wanted to win over - Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and some Conservative eurosceptics in the European Research Group (ERG) - are set to rebel. The brake enables Britain to prevent new EU laws applying to goods in Northern Ireland if asked to do so by a third of lawmakers in the province's devolved legislature. The DUP has for a year boycotted Northern Ireland's power-sharing government over its opposition to the post-Brexit trade rules, which effectively leaves the province in the EU's single market for goods and means it has to follow some of the bloc's rules.

Sunak has tried to end years of wrangling over Brexit by revisiting one of the trickiest parts of the negotiations - to ensure smooth trade to Northern Ireland without creating a hard border with Britain or with European Union-member Ireland. "I welcome parliament voting today to support the Windsor Framework," Britain's Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris said on Twitter. "This measure lies at the very heart of the Windsor Framework which offers the best deal for Northern Ireland, safeguarding its place in the Union and addressing the democratic deficit." Sunak hailed securing the deal last month as a "decisive breakthrough" but by alienating the DUP he has failed in restoring the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson told parliament his party could not return to Northern Ireland's power-sharing government "at this stage".

☆ Northern Ireland Impasse to Persist After Unionist Party Rejects Brexit Compromise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Max Colchester | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON—Efforts by the British government to end political paralysis in Northern Ireland suffered a blow on Monday after the Democratic Unionist Party said it would reject a compromise agreement recently hammered out by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the European Union over the region’s trading status. The so-called Windsor Framework is aimed at appeasing the DUP and other unionist communities in Northern Ireland who felt cut off from the rest of Britain after the country agreed as part of its 2019 Brexit divorce deal to place a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., rather than a border between the province and Ireland, which remains an EU member.

☆ Northern Ireland's DUP hardens position against new Brexit deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Amanda Ferguson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A key test of the deal reached by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with Brussels last month is its ability to convince the DUP to end a year-long boycott of Northern Ireland's power-sharing government over the original post-Brexit trade rules. As well as leaving Northern Ireland without a functioning executive, failure to win over the DUP could trigger a rebellion within Sunak's Conservative Party and dash his hopes of presenting the deal as a major diplomatic success. U.S. President Joe Biden has accepted an invitation to visit Northern Ireland to mark the anniversary in April. Clear protection "in UK law" was also needed to protect Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom's internal market, he said. Sunak's government has not set out in detail how it intends to implement the deal, known as the Windsor Framework, in law.

☆ UK's Sunak will invite Biden to Northern Ireland peace anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-12 | by ( Elizabeth Piper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 12 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will invite U.S. President Joe Biden to Northern Ireland in April to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which largely brought an end to three decades of political violence. Sunak said on Sunday that he would issue a formal invite to the celebrations, which are due to take place in the middle of April. The Good Friday Agreement was a peace deal that largely ended the "Troubles", three decades of violence that had convulsed Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. It was signed on April 10, 1998, and partially brokered by the U.S. government of then President Bill Clinton. "What I'm concentrating on now is talking to everyone in Northern Ireland so we can find a positive way to move forward and get power-sharing up and running - that's my priority," Sunak said.

☆ Only 16% of DUP voters back British PM's Northern Ireland deal - poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBLIN, March 11 (Reuters) - Only 16% of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party voters would back British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's recent deal with the European Union on post-Brexit trade rules if a referendum were held, a poll showed on Saturday. The survey by polling company LucidTalk for the Belfast Telegraph newspaper found that just 38% of the region's wider unionist electorate would vote in favour of the Windsor Framework agreement if a referendum were held. While 73% of DUP voters and 50% of unionist voters would oppose the deal, 67% of all voters in the region were in favour thanks to strong support among nationalists, the poll showed. Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, while nationalists favour a united Ireland. Reporting by Conor Humphries and Amanda Ferguson Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Oklahoma Republican tells Teamsters president 'shut your mouth' in terse exchange at Senate hearing
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

WASHINGTON — A Republican lawmaker Wednesday told Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien to "shut your mouth" in a terse exchange at a hearing examining so-called union busting by U.S. companies. O'Brien said the International Brotherhood of Teamsters had examples of employers illegally pressuring workers not to join unions. When O'Brien said Mullin was out of line, the lawmaker shot back: "You need to shut your mouth." "You think you're smart? You think you're funny?

☆ Brexit deal could resurface Britain's 'healthy fundamentals' if EU relations strengthen, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Speaking at a news conference, Sunak described the new agreement — known as the Windsor Framework — as "the beginning of a new chapter" for the relationship between the U.K. and the EU. Dan Kitwood | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesLONDON — The new Brexit deal between the U.K. and the EU may help bring Britain's "healthy fundamentals" back to the fore, providing relations with Brussels continue to improve, analysts suggest. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday announced the agreement of the Windsor Framework, which aims to fix the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol. The Protocol had been a long-standing bugbear for unionist pro-Brexit parties in Northern Ireland, and had brought the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly to a standstill over the past year, after the Democratic Unionist Party resigned in protest. "If this comes to an end, we expect the U.K.'s healthy fundamentals — well capitalised banks, cash flush households and firms, and well-regulated markets — to re-assert themselves."

☆ Sterling holds gains after rising on UK trade deal with EU
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Rae Wee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SINGAPORE, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The pound held steady on Tuesday, retaining gains overnight after Britain struck a new trade deal with the European Union, which brightened the outlook for the post-Brexit UK economy and signalled improved relations between London and the bloc. The dollar was mostly flat in early trade but was on track to end higher for the month, ending a four-month losing streak. The euro similarly got a lift and was last 0.05% higher at $1.0614, after rising 0.6% on Monday. The British parliament will now vote on the deal, with the opposition Labour Party saying it will vote in favour. "The real thing is, is this a springboard for a stronger, much improved removal of trade frictions more generally, between the UK and the EU?"

☆ Brexit deal hailed as 'turning point' for Northern Ireland, but could still face opposition in Belfast
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WINDSOR, U.K., Feb. 27, 2023: Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (L) and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced a landmark post-Brexit trading arrangement seeking to rectify problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol. Dan Kitwood/AFP via Getty ImagesLONDON — The new Brexit deal signed by the U.K. and the European Union on Monday was heralded as a "turning point" for Northern Ireland, but must still pass muster in Belfast. The sticking point could come from across the Irish Sea in Stormont, near Belfast, where the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended for a year after the pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) resigned in protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol. "There can be no disguising the fact that, in some sectors of our economy, EU law remains applicable in Northern Ireland." BELFAST, U.K., Feb. 17, 2023: DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson speaks to reporters outside the Culloden Hotel in Belfast after Northern Irish leaders held talks with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

☆ Brexit slammed the UK economy. The Northern Ireland deal gives it hope
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

It delivers “long-lasting solutions” that will work for the people and businesses of Northern Ireland, she added. It also allows the UK government to determine sales tax rates for businesses in Northern Ireland and gives the Northern Ireland government emergency powers to oppose new EU rules on some goods. A boost to BritainBeyond its importance to Northern Ireland, the deal eases the uncertainty Brexit created for Britain. The new Northern Ireland deal opens the door to closer UK-EU cooperation on financial services, energy, immigration and scientific research, according to experts. “You need to address the Protocol before you do anything else,” said Anna Jerzewska, the founder of international trade consultancy Trade & Borders.

☆ UK's Sunak in Belfast to start selling his new Brexit deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Sachin Ravikumar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Sunak struck a deal with the European Union on Monday to ease restrictions on trade between Northern Ireland and Britain, and to give lawmakers on the ground a greater say over the rules and regulations they follow from Brussels. Its success is likely to hinge on whether it convinces the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to end its boycott of Northern Ireland's power-sharing arrangements. These were central to the 1998 peace deal which mostly ended three decades of sectarian and political violence in Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers a statement on the Northern Ireland Protocol, at the House of Commons in London, Britain, February 27, 2023. UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERS"We listened very, very carefully to the people, the businesses and the elected representatives in Northern Ireland," he said.

☆ Northern Ireland's DUP: New deal does give Stormont ability to apply brake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said a new provision to stop new European Union trade rules from applying to goods in Northern Ireland did appear to give its Stormont regional assembly the ability to apply a brake. "I do think that what has been proposed at first reading does give Stormont the ability to apply the brake where the application of EU law for the purposes of facilitating cross-border trade impacts on our ability to trade with the rest of the United Kingdom," Jeffrey Donaldson told BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday. We continue to have some concerns," he said of the new post-Brexit deal struck between Britain and the EU on Monday. The Stormont brake, unveiled as part of the deal, enables the British government to stop new EU laws from applying to goods in Northern Ireland if requested by a third of lawmakers in Stormont, the British province's regional assembly. Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar, Editing by Kylie MacLellanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Britain and EU close in on crucial Brexit deal for Northern Ireland
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The U.K. may have left the European Union on Jan. 31, 2020, but the Northern Ireland Protocol has sparked persistent disagreement ever since. This part of the Brexit deal mandates checks on some goods that travel to Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. — with the new negotiations aimed at easing these rules. Unionist parties in Northern Ireland — which is part of the U.K, unlike its neighbor Ireland, which is part of the EU — have argued that the checks place an effective border in the Irish Sea. The Protocol has also been criticized for jeopardizing the Good Friday Agreement — a long-standing peace deal that brought an end to three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Meanwhile, the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended since Feb. 2022 after the Democratic Unionist Party resigned in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol.

☆ Factbox: UK says 'Stormont Brake' gives UK unequivocal veto over some EU laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In a British government document setting out details of the deal, London said the mechanism gives it an "unequivocal veto" on EU rules when 30 members of Northern Ireland's devolved government from two or more parties object. "Once the UK notifies the EU that the brake has been triggered, the rule in question is suspended automatically from coming into effect," the document published on the British government website said. "This would give the UK an unequivocal veto - enabling the rule to be permanently disapplied - within the Joint Committee." If the UK accepts these conditions have been met, it would commence intensive consultations at the joint committee. This would be because of a divergence in trade rules between Northern Ireland and Ireland - and thus the broader EU, London noted.

☆ UK begins long and uncertain road back from Brexit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Britain is beginning the long and uncertain road back from Brexit. Changes to the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol were inevitable. There’s still scope to improve Johnson’s trade deal, struck in 2019. The route back is uncertain, but the symbolic importance of the Northern Ireland deal is not. The agreement marks a “new chapter” in relations between the UK and European Union, Sunak said in a press conference.

☆ A risk taken, UK's Sunak announces the Windsor Framework
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Elizabeth Piper | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

But it was secrecy that fostered suspicion among two big hitters in the years-long Brexit debate - the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Northern Ireland's biggest unionist party, and the pro-Brexit Conservative European Research Group (ERG). "I am pleased to report that we have now made a decisive breakthrough, together we have changed the original protocol and are today announcing the new Windsor framework," Sunak told a news conference. Then both former leaders had threatened to rip up the Northern Ireland protocol with legislation in parliament and their administrations had regularly criticised the EU for being overly legalistic and inflexible. Pressing pause on the Northern Ireland Protocol bill which would all but rip up the earlier agreement, he saw solving the Northern Ireland standoff as a concrete "win" for his administration which has struggled to establish itself. But Sunak still has to win over not only some of his lawmakers in the ERG, but more importantly the DUP.

☆ UK and EU leaders to meet Monday to finalise Northern Ireland deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"The Prime Minister wants to ensure any deal fixes the practical problems on the ground, ensures trade flows freely within the whole of the UK, safeguards Northern Ireland’s place in our Union and returns sovereignty to the people of Northern Ireland," a statement from Sunak's office said. SOVEREIGNTY CONCERNSAs part of its exit agreement, Britain signed an accord with Brussels known as the Northern Ireland protocol to avoid imposing politically contentious checks along the 500-kilometre (310-mile) land border with Ireland. But the protocol effectively created a border for some goods moving from Britain because it kept Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods. That also left Northern Ireland subject to some EU rules even though it was not a member of the bloc. Perceptions that the protocol erodes Northern Ireland's place in the UK have sparked anger among many in pro-British communities.

☆ UK's Sunak wants to 'get the job done' on Brexit with Northern Ireland deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"There's unfinished business on Brexit and I want to get the job done," Sunak told The Sunday Times newspaper in an interview. Sunak said he would try to resolve the concerns of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) which is worried about the EU retaining influence over Northern Ireland. Ireland's prime minister Leo Varadkar told reporters earlier on Saturday that Britain and the EU were inching forwards and an agreement was possible, but not guaranteed, in the coming days. Sunak, in a nod to the DUP's worries, said the Good Friday peace agreement for Northern Ireland had been unbalanced by the Brexit deal for the province's trade rules. He said the shooting of a police officer on Wednesday "reminds us of the delicate situation in Northern Ireland, the fragility of it, and we shouldn’t take it for granted.

☆ UK, EU inching towards Northern Ireland deal, Irish prime minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Momentum has been building for weeks towards a deal to ease checks on trade that were introduced under the Northern Ireland Protocol - the arrangements agreed to avoid a hard border with EU member Ireland when Britain exited the EU in 2020. Lawmakers in British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative party have been told to be in parliament on Monday, in a sign that a deal could be imminent. Certainly the deal isn't done yet, but I do think we are inching towards a conclusion," Leo Varadkar told reporters. While an agreement would mark an end to a two-year standoff between Britain and the EU, Sunak could face a battle with pro-Brexit Conservative lawmakers and pro-British Northern Irish politicians to make the deal work. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the region's largest pro-British party, has said it will not end its boycott of the assembly unless all checks on goods bound for Northern Ireland from Britain are removed.

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