BORDER REGION WELCOME FOR PROTOCOL BREAKTHROUGH

A breakthrough deal between Britain and the EU to regulate trade in Northern Ireland has been generally welcomed in Co Monaghan and the wider Border region. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described the outcome of the protracted negotiations on the Northern Ireland Protocol as “a decisive breakthrough”.

He was speaking at a joint press conference on Monday with EU President Ursula von der Leyen, who said that the deal struck would allow a stronger EU-UK relationship “standing as close partners, shoulder to shoulder now and in the future”. The British PM said the deal would be submitted to a vote in Parliament “at the appropriate time”. “And that vote will be respected,” he added. DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said his party would take its time to consider the detail of the agreement and would take expert legal advice on its contents as well as measuring it against the “seven tests” which the DUP had stipulated would have to be met if any deal was to get its backing.

The DUP have strongly objected to the trade barriers between the North and the UK that formed part of the Protocol, which was signed by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2020…