The leader of the DUP has warned the UK government he will hold its “feet to the fire” on delivering on the deal to restore Stormont as he admitted he did not fully trust it.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said independent monitoring mechanisms built into the agreement meant there were means to ensure the UK government was doing what it has pledged to do.
The DUP has given the green light for the recall of the Stormont Assembly on the back of the deal, with powersharing due to be restored in Northern Ireland on Saturday after two years in cold storage.
On Thursday, two pieces of legislation contained in the agreement to resurrect devolution were fast-tracked through the UK's House of Commons.
The DUP has agreed the package of measures with the UK government that Mr Donaldson says has effectively removed the so-called Irish Sea border for goods moving from Britain to, and staying in, Northern Ireland.
The plan is set out in a command paper titled 'Safeguarding the Union'.
“There is undoubtedly a trust issue here,” the DUP leader told BBC Radio Ulster on Friday.
“I will hold the government’s feet to the fire. There are new mechanisms, I’m not just relying on the UK government.
It has been confirmed that the Assembly will meet on Saturday, as we come together to form an Executive and get Ministers back in office to take decisions to support workers, families and public services.
I am determined to lead an Executive as a First Minister for all, and to…— Michelle O’Neill (@moneillsf) February 1, 2024
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“There’s a new independent monitoring panel to be established under this agreement, which will hold the government’s feet to the fire as an independent body.
“I will be able to appoint people, professional people with knowledge of customs arrangements, with knowledge of trading arrangements, who will be able to ensure that what the government have promised to deliver is delivered.”
Mr Donaldson added: “It (command paper) is a political declaration of what the government is doing and has, in some instances, already done and will do.
Legal advice from John Larkin KC on DUP deal to be published on Friday morning
Those who shared most anti-Protocol platforms with Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, namely, Ben Habib, Baroness Hoey, Jim Allister and Jamie Bryson, commissioned legal advice, at their own expense, on the DUP…— Jim Allister (@JimAllister) February 1, 2024
“In political transactions, there is a degree of guarantee and there is a degree of trust – most transactions in life are like that. Do we completely 100 per cent trust the government? No, of course not.
“That’s why I have built mechanisms in here and safety nets in here to ensure that if the government dishonour their side, then we have measures that we can utilise to address that.”
When the Northern Ireland Assembly does reconvene at Parliament Buildings on Saturday, it will witness the historically significant moment of the appointment of its first nationalist first minister, Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill.
The DUP will hold the position of deputy first minister – an office that wields the same powers as the first minister.
While Mr Donaldson has secured the backing of a majority of party colleagues to accept the deal, there are those within the DUP who remain deeply sceptical of the proposed agreement to restore powersharing.
Parliamentary debate on the two motions on Thursday laid bare the divisions at the very top of the DUP, with senior party members Lord Dodds and Sammy Wilson voicing opposition to the proposals, albeit both stopped short of criticising their leader.
Mr Donaldson is also facing opposition outside his party.
Around 120 unionists and loyalists opposed to the deal gathered at a meeting in Moygashel Orange Hall in Co Tyrone on Thursday night.
TUV leader Jim Allister told the meeting that Northern Ireland remained a “colony” because it had to accept economic laws made by the EU, while loyalist activist Jamie Bryson said so-called Irish Sea border remained.
However, the DUP leader was given a significant boost on Friday when a high-profile Orange Order chief declared his personal support for the package.
Writing in the Belfast Telegraph, grand secretary of the Orange Order Mervyn Gibson said while the deal was not perfect, it was a “win for unionist determination and unity, and needs to be accepted as such”.
Thanks to the new deal negotiated by @J_Donaldson_MP goods staying inside the United Kingdom are no longer subject to
EU checks. The @duponline has delivered for the people of Northern Ireland and has ensured our Constitutional position within the United Kingdom. pic.twitter.com/9TQccAcrri— Queen's University DUA (@QUB_DUA) February 1, 2024
The UK government has faced questions in parliament from Brexiteer backbenchers who have expressed concern that the deal agreed with the DUP would place limits on the UK’s ability to diverge from EU regulations.
UK ministers have sought to reassure MPs that the measures will not affect the UK’s capacity to diverge.
The paper commits to replacing the Windsor Framework’s green lane process at Northern Ireland ports, which requires percentages of goods to be checked as they arrive from Britain, with a “UK internal market system” that will govern the movement of goods that remain within the UK.
Checks would still be carried out but on a risk-based/intelligence-led model to combat illegality and disease, rather than routine stops of disembarking lorries.
Businesses using the internal market system would also need to be signed up to a trusted trader scheme.
The measure to reduce checks on British/Northern Ireland trade is part of a wide-ranging deal agreed between the DUP and the UK government that would bring about the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland after a two-year hiatus.
The DUP has agreed to drop its two-year blockade of Stormont in exchange for the UK government measures aimed at addressing its concerns about post-Brexit trading arrangements that created economic barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
The return of Stormont will see the UK Treasury release a £3.3 billion package to support under-pressure public services in Northern Ireland.
The financial package, announced by the UK government before Christmas, includes money to settle the demands of striking public sector workers in the region this year.
Despite the moves to restore the devolved institutions, industrial action continued on Thursday, with public transport workers and school support staff picketing in the latest day of strikes in Northern Ireland.
