IT'S a “sad day” for the people of Northern Ireland as they face another election which will "solve and do nothing", a former Taoiseach has said.
Bertie Ahern, an architect of the Good Friday Agreement, said a ballot will not “change a damn thing”.
He made the comments as the election is expected to be called by Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris on Friday, after a deadline to restore devolved government at Stormont passed.
Ahern said that Heaton-Harris talked himself into the election in recent weeks after stating he has a legal obligation.
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“I think it’s a pity, I think it’s a sad day and feel sorry for people in the north because this won’t decide what’s in the (Northern Ireland) Protocol,” Ahern said.
“The only thing that will decide the protocol are the negotiations that are necessary.”
The DUP is blocking the restoration of powersharing as part of its protest against the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.
A six-month legislative timeframe to form an administration expired in the early hours of Friday.
Talks between Brussels and London to resolve the outstanding issues are ongoing, however Ahern believes there are “no negotiations” taking place between both sides.
“The last meetings of substance were last October. There was a bit of a meeting for a half day in February,” he told RTE’s Today with Claire Byrne programme.
“Talks started last week but no negotiations, there’s a big difference between talks and discussions and negotiations, and now they’ve thrown the north into an election.
I am extremely disappointed that the Executive has not reformed.
— Chris Heaton-Harris MP (@chhcalling) October 28, 2022
The people of Northern Ireland deserve a fully-functioning devolved government.
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“It doesn’t matter whether people vote black, white, yellow or pink in the election, it won’t change anything. The protocol is still the protocol and it isn’t up for discussion in the election.
Ahern also said the UK Government needs to learn “a bit more” about the DUP and its stance on the Northern Ireland Protocol, stating that the party will not change its position until there is a solution.
He said that people in Northern Ireland now face an election “that solves nothing does nothing”.
“The main issue that’s causing the breakdown is not even on the agenda. So, if they all voted 100% one way or the other, it doesn’t change a damn thing,” Ahern added.
“I think what happens now is the election will be on the 15th, there’ll be all the rancour in between, hopefully it’s a peaceful election.
“Hopefully, people use their democratic vote for whatever individuals they like.
“On the other side of that, they’ll have a Christmas break and then maybe the British government might consider doing what they should have done a few years ago and get into serious negotiations, not discussions, and try to find a way forward.”
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Ahern said he is also concerned the British Government will use Northern Ireland as a bargaining chip in the protocol negotiations.
He added: “We know the problems, they’ve been rehearsed time and time again, but the British government can say what they like, but the reality is there hasn’t been any negotiations for a full 12 months.
“It was just coming up to Halloween last year was the last meeting of substance and with all the musical chairs that have been going on in Westminster, people in Northern Ireland have been left.
“I hope they noticed that. I do hope people in Northern Ireland see that in Number 10, they are low on their priority.”
The sequence of events which led to the collapse of the devolved government at Stormont
The stalemate between the political parties in Northern Ireland which has caused the latest collapse of devolved government can be traced back to the Brexit withdrawal agreement in January 2020.
The agreement cementing the UK’s exit from the European Union came just weeks after the New Decade New Approach accord which resurrected Stormont following a three-year collapse.
January 24 2020: The 2016 vote by the UK to leave the EU was formalised after several years of negotiation during which Northern Ireland and its border with the Republic of Ireland turned into one of the trickiest issues.
How to manage the UK’s only land border with the EU was hoped to be resolved with the Northern Ireland Protocol which, instead, placed checks in the Irish Sea.
December 31 2020: The Brexit transition period between the UK and the EU ended at 11pm, which saw the start of the implementation of the protocol, albeit with a number of grace periods.
February 1 2021: Hostility towards port staff from Loyalists who oppose the sea border separating Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom prompted Stormont’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) to halt checks on animal-based foodstuffs at Belfast and Larne ports.
Daera said the pause was necessary to protect the welfare of its employees after graffiti appeared in the area describing port officers as “targets”.
February 21 2021: Unionist leaders launch high court challenge to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
February 26 2021: Stormont Agriculture Minister Gordon Lyons (DUP) orders officials to halt construction of permanent inspection facilities for post-Brexit checks on agri-food goods arriving from Great Britain.
Sinn Fein deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill brands the move a “stunt”.
April 28 2021: DUP leader and First Minister Arlene Foster is ousted over discontent with the party’s Brexit strategy.
The party rank and file lay some of the blame for the emergence of an Irish Sea border at her door.
June 30 2021: Sir Jeffrey Donaldson takes over at the DUP helm. He vowed “to right the wrong that has been done by the imposition of the Northern Ireland Protocol and to restore Northern Ireland’s place fully within the UK internal market”.
September 9 2021: Sir Jeffrey announces his party will no longer engage with north/south political structures established under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement as part of their campaign against the protocol.
February 3 2022: DUP withdrew First Minister Paul Givan from the Stormont Executive in a protest move to force the UK to act on their concerns over the protocol.
March 30 – April 5 2021: Rioting in areas across Northern Ireland is blamed on tensions caused by loyalist opposition to the protocol.
May 25 2021: A delegation from the DUP tell UK’s lead Brexit negotiator, Lord Frost, the Northern Ireland Protocol must be scrapped.
Sir Jeffrey said: “Our message was clear and unambiguous, the protocol must go and the Government should take further unilateral action to restore our province’s full and unfettered access to the United Kingdom internal market.”
June 5 2021: Hundreds of people turn out for the first in a series of anti-protocol rallies which took place in Portadown.
November 3 2021: A rally against the protocol on the loyalist Shankill Road is followed by serious rioting at a nearby peace line.
Rallies against the protocol, many addressed by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and TUV leader Jim Allister, continue at locations across Northern Ireland in the lead up to an Assembly election.
May 2022: Assembly election results see Sinn Fein overtake the DUP to become the biggest party at Stormont.
May 30 2022: Assembly sits following a recall petition, but an attempt to elect a speaker to allow business to proceed failed after the DUP refused to support it.
June 13, 2022: The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, designed to effectively override sections of the deal is introduced in Parliament.
August 3: Another recall of the Assembly sees DUP again refuse to support any nominations for a new speaker.
October 18 2022: Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris confirms he will call a fresh Assembly election as required by law if a new executive has not been formed by the October 28 deadline.
October 27 2022: A final recall of the Assembly to attempt to elect a speaker fails just hours before the deadline to form an executive or face an election.
Sinn Fein blamed the impasse on the DUP’s refusal to nominate ministers to a new executive, while the DUP said the UK Government could have introduced legislation to delay an election for action on the protocol.
Sir Jeffrey said turbulence at Westminster, including the resignations of Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss as Prime Minister in recent months, means the Government would be within its rights to secure more time to sort out the protocol.
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