More than 120,000 people signed a petition by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in just over 48 hours calling on the British government to remove post-Brexit trade barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
A month after Britain left the EU's orbit, it is once again arguing with Brussels over the most contentious issue of its five year Brexit negotiations – rules for trade involving Northern Ireland.
To ensure no land border in Ireland, Britain left the North in the EU single market and customs union when the rest of the UK left on January 1st. But that meant agreeing to checks on goods arriving from England, Scotland or Wales.
Many unionists fiercely oppose the new trade barriers, and some of the checks were suspended at two ports this week after reports of staff intimidation.
The DUP has stepped up its campaign against the protocol in recent days, including launching the petition. Now that it has 100,000 signatures, the UK parliament is required to consider a debate on it.
“We have made the case to the Prime Minister and now the people have made a very public appeal to the Government of their country to act,” DUP leader Arlene Foster, the Stormont First Minister, said in a statement.
The EU and Britain agreed this week to hold further talks to resolve difficulties that have already impeded deliveries of goods, notably food. However, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney warned on Thursday that there was no scope for dramatic changes.
The DUP's petition called for London to invoke an emergency clause in the protocol, Article 16, which British prime minister Boris Johnson has said his government would do if necessary.
