Hopes have been raised that a deal between the EU and the UK over the Northern Ireland post-Brexit trading protocol is imminent.
It comes amid heightened political maneuvering over the past week and suggestions that a deal could be reached in the coming days.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in Northern Ireland on Friday, February 17, meeting political parties and with particular attention focused on the DUP.
After her party’s meeting with Mr. Sunak, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, said it was “game on” for an agreement.
DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said “real progress” has been made between London and Brussels but insisted any deal would have to meet his party’s seven tests set out last year for the re-establishment of Stormont.
An intervention from former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, warning Sunak not to drop the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, that would have given ministers the power to override parts of the protocol, has led to fears of a Tory rebellion in the House of Commons that could scupper an historic deal.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has warned against anyone playing politics with the future of Northern Ireland as negotiations reach a delicate stage.
Speaking in Brussels, where he was attending an EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, Martin said: “I think what’s very important is that everybody now from here on think about the people of Northern Ireland.
“Not power play, not politics elsewhere, I think the people of Northern Ireland have had enough of that, of people playing politics with their future. And, in my view, my only concern is that the people of Northern Ireland voted (last May), they want their institutions restored.
“People had legitimate concerns around the operation of the protocol. There’s been a very sincere and substantial attempt to resolve those concerns by the UK negotiating team with the EU negotiating team.
“I think we should allow that to come to realization and fruition in the coming while and we should then focus on the needs of the people.”
Two of the most contentious issues for unionists is the flow of trade across the Irish Sea and the role of the European Court of Justice.
The Brexit deal will see red and green lanes at Northern Ireland ports. Products staying in Northern Ireland and coming from the UK will go through the green lane, where there will be fewer checks and less paper work than those goods going through the red lane and which are destined for the Republic of Ireland.
The European Court of Justice will have final say over any contentious issues as Northern Ireland would continue to follow some EU trade laws.
However, DUP MP Sammy Wilson said that his party would not except an agreement that would leave Northern Ireland subject to EU laws.
