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A motion was passed in the Northern Ireland Assembly calling on the UK government to “honor its commitments” regarding the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
The MLAs also agreed that Westminster should ensure the “rigorous and full implementation” of the Northern Ireland protocol, “prioritize peace and stability” and “work to secure a future economic partnership with its EU colleagues” .
The internal market bill, which is making its way through the House of Commons, threatens to nullify parts of the protocol, the part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
The motion, presented by Sinn Féin, was approved by 48 in favor and 36 against. It was supported by the SDLP, the Alliance, and other smaller parties, but opposed by the DUP and the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).
In proposing the motion to the Assembly, Sinn Féin MLA Martina Anderson said the UK government was “driving a carriage and horses through strings one, two and three of the Good Friday Agreement”.
“Britannia waived the rules,” he said.
The Northern Ireland protocol was “an ugly compromise” that “mitigated” the worst effects of Brexit, he said, adding that the scale of damage caused to lives and livelihoods by this “Brexit disaster was” staggering. “.
He said British ministers had “expressed interest in lighting a bonfire under hard-earned rights” and urged the EU and the Irish government to “stand firm” in defense of the peace process in opposition to “increasingly reckless” actions. of the UK government. .
However, the DUP MLA Paul Givan said the protocol was “an instrument to punish people” in Northern Ireland and the UK and was an “instrument, being exploited” by the EU and “our predatory neighbor in the Republic. from Ireland”.
The motion, he said, had to do with “the whole of Ireland agenda” and “the reunification of this island.”
SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole said he does not believe that anyone in the Assembly “should take lightly the idea that the British government is cheerfully departing from its obligations under international law.”
Even if it was a “negotiating tactic” to increase tensions, he said, “we in this part of the world should be deeply, deeply angry to be used to increase tensions in a negotiation between the UK and the EU.”
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill said that the people of the North were being used as a “pawn in the middle of the Brexit debate … and that’s not a good place for us.”
She said it was in everyone’s interest to minimize trade disruption and she and the prime minister wanted to see “frictionless north-south and east-west trade” and would work to make sure that happened.
“Our people need certainty, our businesses need certainty,” he said.
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