UK Minister To Meet N.Ireland Parties In Bid To End Deadlock

Belfast, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jan, 2023 ) :UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Wednesday sits down with Northern Ireland's political leaders in Belfast to try to end a political deadlock caused by wrangling over post-Brexit trading rules.

The visit comes after the UK and European Union said they had agreed on sharing data on trade between Northern Ireland and England, Scotland and Wales, which has been hailed as a breakthrough.

Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, goods heading to the province from mainland Great Britain need customs checks to ensure they do not enter the European single market via member state Ireland.

But opposition to the rules from the pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has left Northern Ireland without a power-sharing government, imperilling the backbone of a 1998 peace deal.

There are hopes the stand-off can be resolved before the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, which ended three decades of sectarian violence over British rule and created an open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Cleverly, who is due to meet the EU pointman on the issue Maros Sefcovic again next week, reiterated he preferred a "negotiated solution" to the dispute to ensure political stability in Northern Ireland.

"The current situation isn't working. We need to address those issues with the Protocol that risk and undermine the place of (Northern Ireland) in the UK," he added.