Ireland to build a new relationship with the UK

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Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has said he feels “a relief tinged with regret” as Britain does so only following the agreement of a new post-Brexit trade deal.

In a statement, he said: “Ireland is now focused on building a new relationship with the UK outside the EU.

“I will be updating the Cabinet on Tuesday on the agreement, which is 2,000 pages long and has taken us four very long years.

“The border, the peace process, billions in tariffs and our place in the single market were all threatened by Brexit, all of this has now been put to bed.”

Mr Coveney added: “When you weigh the enormous damage of a no deal, I think Ireland has defended itself against the vulnerabilities that Brexit imposed on us.

“The protection of the Irish protocol and this agreement is beyond what many predicted would be possible.”

“There will still be some changes to the status quo on January 1 as our closest neighbor is outside the EU and the Cabinet will also discuss support for the most affected sectors.

“This weekend my feeling is one of relief, but tinged with regret that the UK is doing it alone.

“Ireland is now focused on building a new relationship with the UK outside of the EU. Personally, I hope the ‘Brexit’ talks fade away.”

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The document, which is more than 1,200 pages long, details trade, law enforcement and dispute resolution, among other deals, after the UK left the single market and customs union on December 31.

Third-level students from Northern Ireland universities will continue to be able to study in Europe under the Erasmus scheme after the UK leaves the EU after the Irish government promised to fund them.

Number Ten chief negotiator David Frost hailed the deal as the beginning of a “moment of national renewal” which he says means the UK “sets its own laws again” by ensuring there are “no more functions” for the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ).

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted the UK will not back down on workers’ rights or environmental standards.

But the treaty has come under severe criticism from those working in Britain’s fishing industry, who said they had been “slaughtered” to secure the deal with Brussels.

The executive director of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organizations (NFFO), Barrie Deas, accused Johnson of having “bottled” the fishing quotas to secure only “a fraction of what the UK is entitled to receive under international law. “.

“Lacking legal, moral or political influence in the fish negotiations, the EU made the entire trade deal conditional on the UK’s surrender on fisheries,” he said.

Scotland’s Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused the Conservatives of having “sold the Scottish fishery again”, adding: “Promises they knew could not be kept, duly broken”.

The proportion of fish in British waters that the UK can catch will increase from about half now to two thirds by the end of the five and a half year transition.

A senior member of the UK negotiating team defended the fisheries commitment as a transition to a point of “full control over our waters”, but acknowledged that Downing Street wanted the process to happen “faster”.

Meanwhile, all 27 EU member states have indicated they will formally endorse the deal in a few days, while in the UK, MPs and colleagues will be called to Westminster on December 30 to vote on the deal.

Parliament will almost certainly pass the deal, with Labor support, as the alternative would be a chaotic no-deal situation on January 1.



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