Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Defence John Brady TD has welcomed that the President of the United States Joe Biden is prepared to use his influence to ensure that the British government abides by the terms of the internationally-binding agreement with the EU on the Irish protocol.

The Wicklow TD said:

“I welcome the fact that the Biden administration is prepared to weigh in on this issue in order to protect the Good Friday Agreement and the Irish protocol.

“It is hardly surprising that the US would accuse the British of ‘inflaming the rhetoric’ around the issue of the protocol, particularly as the actions of the British diplomat David Frost can only be described at best as unhelpful, and at worst as outright dangerous.

“This is the individual who negotiated the protocol, which he is now saying is unworkable and which he says that the British are prepared to cease enforcing, and, in a display of outrageous disregard for the situation in the North, sets a deadline of July 12th for agreement to British demands.

“It speaks volumes that Frost, one of a number of non-elected government advisors that have been allowed to run amok by the Johnson government, continues to be allowed to shape the British position in relation to the protocol.

“It is even more alarming on the back of the damning evidence given by former Tory government advisor Dominic Cummings to a parliamentary committee on the failings of the interior workings of the Johnson government.

“The failure of the British government to accept the calamity that they have visited upon themselves as a consequence of Brexit, is a major factor in the current standoff in relation to negotiations.

“Rather than attempting to work things through, the Tories are, true to form, attempting to cast blame on the EU for their own ineptitude.

“The reality is that the British are in a mess of their own making, and if they insist with their threats of unilateral action, the EU have clearly stated that they will respond with retaliatory action.

“This is not a situation that anybody would like to see occurring.

“I welcome the commitment of the EU to protecting Irish interests, to protect the Good Friday Agreement, and the Irish Protocol, to preserve the single market and maintain a level playing field.”