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Simon Coveney has said that reports of British intent to violate international law with national law are “very disturbing.
The Foreign Minister said that when Ireland raised the issue and expressed concern, the response made things worse.
“Instead of reassuring us, our concern has been exacerbated,” Coveney told Dáil.
He said he had asked the Irish ambassador in London to raise the issue and had also contacted the EU working group.
“There will be no appeasement of this approach, no approval of the breach of an international agreement that the EU and the UK signed less than a year ago,” he said.
This is “a really unpleasant distraction, which is hugely problematic and illegal,” Coveney said.
While Ireland was still awaiting confirmation of customs legislation relating to Northern Ireland to be published in London today (Wednesday), “any unilateral deviation from the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement would be a very serious step,” he said.
It would damage political confidence, not only in relation to the negotiations, but also for Northern Ireland, which did not need this uncertainty.
Any deviation from international law would have serious implications, especially for the UK’s international reputation, he said.
Ireland will remain calm and carefully analyze the details of the legislation when it is published today (Wednesday), and Ireland will remain in close contact with the EU working group on a daily basis, he said.
The Withdrawal Agreement is an international treaty “and it’s not even twelve months old,” Coveney clearly annoyed al Dáil.
“Let me be very clear, the (Northern Ireland) Protocol agreed as part of the Withdrawal Agreement is designed and authorized to operate in all circumstances, even in the absence of an agreed future relationship between the EU and the UK, he said.
It is surely not much to ask the British government to implement it, he added.
Jim O’Callaghan, Fianna Fáil TD, said British Secretary of State Brandon Lewis had bluntly admitted that the UK intended to violate international law, in a specific way.
He said that he could not believe what he was reading and that he had to check the news sources to make sure it was not a mistake. But the evidence was that Britain was going to do the same.
So it wasn’t “saber rattling” or “posture” as the Taoiseach had said on Tuesday.
“If we appease anarchy, we only encourage the lawbreaker,” he said, adding that Britain’s behavior was “astonishing.”
Sinn Féin TD Ruairí Ó Murchú said the Taoiseach must now call the British prime minister and speak to him directly. The British government was run by the Bullingdon Club, he added, a reference to a partnership at Eton, which was attended by Boris Johnson and David Cameron.
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