Rishi Sunak meeting Stormont leaders over Northern Ireland Protocol

Mr Sunak and Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris are meeting the politicians near Belfast to discuss the contentious post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Following his visit to Northern Ireland, Mr 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.

However, Irish deputy premier Micheal Martin has cautioned that he believes there is a “distance to go yet” before an agreement between the UK and the EU is over the line.

In another apparent sign of progress, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will travel to Brussels for a meeting with European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic.

The five main Stormont parties – Sinn Fein, the DUP, Alliance, the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP – were invited for individual meetings with Mr Sunak on Friday morning.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said there were clear signs of progress on the protocol and that it was “very much game on”.

“It’s clear now that significant progress has been made and we’re very heartened by that,” she said after meeting with Mr Sunak for the first time.

“I think we’ve all seen in recent weeks certainly an upping of the pace of political engagement and activity. That, to our mind, is a very, very positive thing. It’s absolutely necessary that there is intensive goodwill, good faith work done between the parties.”

She said that she believed Mr Sunak was in Northern Ireland “to see what everybody thinks and to listen to all perspectives”.

“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.”

The cross-community Alliance Party was the first in to meet the Prime Minister at a hotel on the outskirts of Belfast.

Alliance leader Naomi Long said Mr Sunak was in listening mode, and that there is “some heavy lifting still to be done” to secure a deal.

She said the Prime Minister did not offer details on the potential shape of an agreement but she nevertheless described the encounter as “a very constructive and very positive meeting”.

“He was very much in listening mode and keen to hear our views,” she said.

“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.

“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.”

Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said that it was a positive meeting, but the details of the potential deal were not outlined during the meeting.

“We are in that position where we could have something next week, but it may be another couple of weeks yet,” he said.

“We don’t know and I don’t leave here knowing much more than I knew when we first went in. But certainly the Prime Minister was enthusiastic, engaged and positive, and that has given me something to take away from this.”

He said Mr Sunak stated that “there’s a way to go yet” on a possible deal.

“Really, all he said was things are moving quicker than he probably anticipated them actually moving.

“But when he says there’s still some way to go, that sort of tells me that we could be talking next week, that doesn’t mean it will be next week, it could be the week after.”

Emerging from his meeting with Mr Sunak, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the Prime Minister had given “scant” detail on the potential deal with the EU.

He said he believed that Mr 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.

Mr Eastwood said he made clear to Mr 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.”

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.

A number 10 spokeswoman said the 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 Foreign Office also confirmed Mr Cleverly’s Brussels meeting with Mr 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”.

Mr Martin said he believed the UK Government wanted a consultation with the Northern Ireland parties on the negotiations.

He told RTE: “I think there is a distance to go yet. I don’t understate the challenges, but clearly the negotiations have been serious and substantive and trust has built up between the EU team and the UK team, but I think there is some time to go yet.”

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 on Thursday: “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.”