Leo Varadkar has been accused of letting slip “obvious” errors from the European Union over the hated Northern Ireland Protocol. Mr Varadkar admitted that “perhaps” the treaty was a “little bit too strict”, saying “mistakes” were made on both sides in the “handling of Brexit”. While some have interpreted the comments as a signal of a softening in stance from the EU, DUP MP Ian Paisley Jr has suggested that the comments are “just a confession that has slipped out”.
The MP claimed Mr Varadkar had “confessed” that the EU “got it obviously wrong”.
The Irish Taoiseach, who was part of the negotiation process to agree on the protocol, said he would be “flexible and reasonable” when attempting to solve issues with the Northern Ireland protocol.
He said: “I’m sure we’ve all made mistakes in the handling of Brexit.
“There was no road map, no manual, it wasn’t something that we expected would happen and we’ve all done our best to deal with it.”
Mr Varadkar also admitted that he understood that some unionists feel the treaty “creates barriers between Britain and Northern Ireland that didn’t exist before”.
But he said this was also true of Brexit which was imposed without cross-community consent.
Mr Varadkar said there is “room for flexibility and room for changes” when it comes to the Protocol, saying this is also the position of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and vice-president Maros Sefcovic.
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Mr Paisley Jr continued: “It’s taken over two years of pain and economic hardship for Northern Ireland and millions of business support and now double VAT charges for one of the culprits who pushed for a hard protocol to finally admit it is too strict and changes are required.
“Yet in the past month Europe was saying it had conceded enough with generous grace periods and that no further concessions are required.
“We have had a chorus of criticism from the UK Government condemning the DUP for refusing to establish an executive when it now appears obvious to all that it has been the DUP’s hard line of putting it to the Government it’s either power-sharing or the protocol but both can’t exist together.
“Now let’s test the bona fides of Leo Varadkar’s comments and see if Europe will concede necessary reform.
“His Majesty’s Government has the power now to move and maximise the benefits for the UK by pressing on with the protocol bill without delay.”
The UK has been locked in talks with the EU over the protocol – which was agreed as part of the withdrawal agreement to avoid a hard border in Ireland post-Brexit – since October 2021.
It allows Northern Ireland to remain within the EU’s single market for goods but it has faced criticism because a border was effectively created between Great Britain and Northern Ireland down the Irish Sea.
The border has led to delays, supermarket shortages and increased costs for businesses in Northern Ireland.
