There can be no return of the power-sharing executive in Stormont until the Northern Ireland Protocol is abolished, it was said at a rally in Co Antrim.
UV leader Jim Alistair addressed the protest in Balimena, where he said the protocol had separated Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK and that it was “cutting into the heart” of the union.
The rally is the latest in a series of events in Northern Ireland, outlining trade union and loyalist opposition to the post-Brexit protocol, which calls for additional checks on goods arriving in Northern Ireland from Britain.
Close
Baroness Kate Howie speaks (Mark Marlowe / PA)
PA
Baroness Kate Howie speaks (Mark Marlowe / PA)
It is strongly opposed by the Unionists as a border in the Irish Sea.
Earlier this year, the DUP withdrew from Stormont’s executive branch in protest of the protocol, and the party vowed not to re-enter government until their concerns were addressed.
A number of loyal gangs marched through Ballimena before several hundred people gathered in the city center to hear speeches by Mr Alistair, former Brexit MEP Ben Habib and Baroness Kate Howie.
The lever we have is to make the prime minister choose: do you want to keep the protocol, or do you want to save Stormont? Jim Alistair
The three speakers are among the group that has filed a lawsuit against the protocol, which is to be heard in the Supreme Court.
Mr Alistair said: “We need to bring the false Prime Minister who imposed this unjust protocol against us to the point where he has to make a choice.
“And the lever we have is to make the prime minister choose: do you want to keep the protocol, or do you want to save Stormont?”
Close
People attend the rally in Ballymena, Antrim County (Mark Marlowe / Pennsylvania)
PA
People attend the rally in Ballymena, Antrim County (Mark Marlowe / Pennsylvania)
“You can’t have both.
“And the reason I say you can’t have both is very simple: the price of Stormont is the implementation of the protocol, and it’s a price that no unionist can pay or ever had to pay.”
He added: “The main premise of the protocol is that Britain is a foreign country and that Northern Ireland, in terms of trade, is an integral part of the EU of what will be an economically integrated island of Ireland.
“Declaring Britain a ‘third’ or foreign country is at the heart of the Union.
“It is no wonder that the Court of Appeal has recognized that the Protocol has subordinated Article 6 of the Union’s acts – the very basis of the Union’s economic union.
Close
Brexit Rally Policy. Anti-protocol rally in Balimena, Antrim district. Jim Alistair of The TUV, Baroness Kate Howie and Ben Habib are waiting to speak during the Anti Protocal rally in Balimena County Antrim. Saturday, April 30, 2022 Photo by Mark Marlowe
Brexit Rally Policy. Anti-protocol rally in Balimena, Antrim district. Jim Alistair of The TUV, Baroness Kate Howie and Ben Habib are waiting to speak during the Anti Protocal rally in Balimena County Antrim. Saturday, April 30, 2022 Photo by Mark Marlowe
Lady Howie said: “I think people in the pro-union community are angry.
“I think we are angry at the way Northern Ireland has been treated by our own government, but also especially by the way the Irish government and the European Union have agreed together to do what they can to separate Northern Ireland. from the rest of the UK.
“I think we all know how the protocol separated Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom, the principle of …
Add Comment