Boris Johnson's violation of Northern Ireland protocol puts UK at risk: Irish Deputy PM

The British government, according to Ireland's deputy prime minister Leo Varadkar, has put the United Kingdom at risk and made "shocking" mistakes regarding Northern Ireland. Varadkar accused Boris Johnson's administration of being dishonest and dishonourable, as well as being undemocratic and disrespectful.

Days after the Northern Ireland protocol bill, which could nullify the Brexit agreement, passed its initial test in the House of Commons, the tánaiste launched the scathing attack in a BBC interview on June 30. Varadkar said he found it "shocking and hard to accept" that Downing Street sought to change the protocol unilaterally.

"I think that’s a strategic mistake for people who want to maintain the union because if you continue to impose things on Northern Ireland that a clear majority of people don’t want, that means more people will turn away from the union. It’s a peculiar policy coming from a government that purports to want to defend the union," Varadkar said, BBC reported.

Notably, Varadkar is expected to succeed Micheal Martin as taoiseach later this year. Because it is removing that power from the assembly, what the British government is doing right now is extremely undemocratic and disrespectful to the people of Northern Ireland, Varadkar further added. He said that an honourable government would uphold the terms of a treaty it had signed and follow international law.

There are people who can say that a square is a circle: Varadkar

He asserted that it is abnormal for a democratically elected government in a reputable nation to ratify a treaty before attempting to amend it domestically. Further, Varadkar refuted claims made by UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss that the EU's suggested solutions would worsen bureaucratic obstacles. "Well, obviously, there are some people who can say that a square is a circle. That is simply untrue," he added.

Separately, Truss' defence of the protocol laws was refuted by Adrian O'Neill, Ireland's ambassador to the UK, in a letter to the Financial Times. According to him, it would destabilise Northern Ireland by causing a legal and political void. Meanwhile, Sinn Fein's deputy leader and Northern Ireland's putative first minister, Michelle O'Neill, laid a wreath at a cenotaph in Belfast on July 1 to commemorate British army soldiers, many of whom were Irish, who died at the Battle of the Somme in 1916, an important anniversary for unionists.

Image: AP