'The UK Cannot Be Trusted'

PM Boris Johnson and his government enjoy breaking international law

“The UK cannot be trusted”, those are not Friends of Sinn Féin’s words but the conclusion reached by Irish Government Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney. This realization followed the British government’s unilateral changes to the hard won Irish Protocol. The same British government that tried to make a virtue out of breaching international law and agreements on Brexit in the past. The latest actions of the British government drew an immediate response by the EU to threaten legal proceedings and to stall the ratification of their trade agreement.

A joint committee including the European Commission, the British government and the Northern Executive had been meeting to resolve issues arising from Brexit.

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald TD has said, "Last week Michael Gove (British government) and Maroš Šefčovič ( European Commission) reaffirmed support for the Irish Protocol and the need to work together to deal with issues that have arisen.”

It is incredible that just one week later the British government once again went solo and took unilateral action. That is their MO, disregard for others and international agreements. Not only was it completely unnecessary but it totally undermines the work of the Joint Committee and puts them on an immediate collision course with the European Union.

The US government, including the Friends of Ireland caucus in the US Congress has been clear that there will be no trade agreement with Britain if they undermine the Good Friday Agreement or if their actions result in a hard border across Ireland. We will wait and see what transpires, but Irish-America is watching.