[ad_1]
Updated 34 minutes ago
The US will “protect and defend” the Good Friday Agreement, said the US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland.
Mick Mulvaney said the deal could be “at risk” due to the UK government’s controversial Internal Market Act, but that it was something the US was “very interested in not having.”
He made the remarks on a visit to Dublin today where he met with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.
His visit comes as the British government rejected a new EU demand to withdraw the Internal Market Act, which could cause the UK to unilaterally break elements of the Brexit divorce deal.
Mulvaney said the United States was closely following the negotiations between the EU and the United Kingdom.
“I think it is fair to say that we are aware and cautious and we are observing the situation,” he said.
“The concern would imply that we are concerned and I don’t think we are at that point yet, but we certainly understand the interaction between the EU / UK trade agreement and the Internal Market Act and the Good Friday agreement.
“That is mainly while I am here. I have not been able to be here before due to Covid. “
He told RTÉ News that the Good Friday Agreement could be “at risk.”
He said: “I don’t think it necessarily follows that just because the UK introduced the Internal Markets Bill, it automatically means that the Good Friday Agreement is at risk.
“But I think anyone looking at the situation understands that there could be a series of events that could put the Good Friday Agreement at risk.
“Again, something that we are very interested in not happening in the United States.
“We are here to protect, defend that Good Friday Agreement that was so hard and won.”
Mulvaney met with Simon Coveney today.
This is his first visit to Ireland, due to the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. In July, she said she was “nibbling a bit” to visit Northern Ireland.
Mulvaney met with Northern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis in Belfast yesterday.
No news is bad news
Support the magazine
your contributions help us keep delivering the stories that are important to you
Support us now
Coveney is ready to travel to Washington this week to discuss “The unbreakable bond between Ireland and the United States.”
I stressed our real concern about the current approach of the UK Government and the vital importance of the full implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement and the Protocol on Ireland / Northern Ireland, for the protection of the Good Friday Agreement and the achievements of the process of peace. Coveney said in a statement.
The UK government faced anger and criticism in Europe and the US over the Internal Markets Act, which would allow ministers to override parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement regarding trade with Northern Ireland.
Mulvaney said yesterday that he believes a trade deal can still be reached.
“The attitude of my government is that we are confident that the EU and the UK will be able to solve this in a way that is acceptable to all,” he told the BBC.
– With reports from the Press Association
[ad_2]