Government Collapse an ‘Inevitability’ If Northern Ireland Protocol Not Addressed, Says First Minister

Northern Ireland First Minister Paul Givan speaking to the media at the ICC in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Dec. 15, 2021. Brian Lawless/PA

It is an “inevitability” that the government in Northern Ireland will collapse again unless issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol are resolved, First Minister Paul Givan said on Monday.

The Protocol, a part of the UK’s Brexit deal, left Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market to avoid a hard border between the region and the Republic of Ireland, but it has effectively put a trade border in the Irish Sea, separating Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.