Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s new prime minister, has admitted that Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading arrangements are “too strict”, fuelling hopes of a deal between the UK and the EU to end the dispute over the issue.
He said a protocol in the UK’s Brexit agreement, which created a trade barrier between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, had made pro-UK unionists in the region feel less British and that a compromise was possible.
Varadkar, who was involved in drawing up the Northern Ireland protocol in 2019 during his first stint as taoiseach, is an unpopular figure in some parts of the region’s unionist and loyalist communities.
Britain and the EU hope talks about a deal to reform the protocol will conclude early in 2023, ending a bitter stand off.
Both sides aim to finalise the discussions before the 25th anniversary in April of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought an end to years of sectarian conflict and created a power-sharing assembly at Stormont.
Difficult issues to resolve include checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, which remains part of the EU single market for goods.
But Varadkar’s comments will help to further enhance the mood music around the talks, which had already improved following the departure of Boris Johnson as UK prime minister in September.
Asked about the negative perception of him within the unionist movement, Varadkar told reporters in Dublin: “I’m sure we’ve all made mistakes in the handling of Brexit. One thing I have said in the past is that when we designed the protocol, when it was originally negotiated, perhaps it was a little bit too strict.
“And that’s why I think there is room for flexibility and room for changes and we’re open to that and up for that. So, we are willing to show flexibility and to make compromises. We do want there to be an agreement.”
Varadkar said he hoped to visit Northern Ireland in the coming weeks.
Downing Street said it “welcomed” the Irish prime minister’s comments, adding: “We have said for some time it is possible to enact the protocol in a way that is flexible.”
The Democratic Unionist party is boycotting the Stormont assembly in protest over the operation of the protocol and Varadkar said he could understand its anger.
“I do understand how they feel about the protocol,” he added. “They feel that it diminishes their place in the union, that it creates barriers between Britain and Northern Ireland that didn’t exist before.
“And I do understand that and I do get that. But that’s also true of Brexit. Brexit was imposed on Northern Ireland without cross-community consent, without the support of the majority of people in Northern Ireland.”
Varadkar, who began his second term as taoiseach last month, said: “One of the good things about the EU was that it diminished barriers and diminished borders between north and south, and that was a great reassurance to people who come from a nationalist background in particular. So I understand that there are two sides to this story.”
US president Joe Biden’s administration is putting pressure on UK prime minister Rishi Sunak and the EU to resolve the dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol soon. Biden hopes to visit Northern Ireland and Ireland in the spring, alongside a possible state visit to London.
UK foreign secretary James Cleverly is expected to speak to Maroš Šefčovič, European Commission vice-president responsible for Brexit issues, in the coming days to review the prospect of a deal.
Detailed negotiations between the two sides, dubbed the “tunnel”, have yet to begin.
