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When the EU Commission triggered Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol last week, to stop vaccines moving from the Irish Republic to the Province, every major political party in

Northern Ireland condemned its actions. Unfortunately, that consensus dissolved almost immediately. So did the resolve of the Government in Westminster to make sure this act of hypocrisy had

repercussions. The Commission withdrew its threat to trigger the Article — this time — but the entire case for the Protocol has now fallen apart. The EU and the Dublin government claimed

that the Brexit side-deal was needed to avoid checks or infrastructure at the Irish land border, on the basis that even an extra security camera at that frontier would constitute a threat to

peace and breach the Good Friday Agreement. Yet, less than one month after the Protocol was implemented, the Commission briefly created a “hard border” in Ireland for vaccines. This

provocation has precipitated a flurry of anti-Protocol activity in Northern Ireland. Earlier this week, the two smaller unionist parties, the UUP and the TUV, published their proposals for

overcoming the trade border in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ulster. And, this morning, the DUP unveiled its action plan, pledging to oppose “laws or Bills that flow from the

Protocol” in the Stormont Assembly. In its statement, the DUP also said, “our members cannot and will not continue to act as though relationships [with the Republic of Ireland] are normal.”

This rather vague undertaking leaves open the threat that the DUP may refuse to participate in the North-South Ministerial Council, a body that meets regularly to allow cooperation between

the two jurisdictions in Ireland on matters like tourism and the management of waterways. The unionist parties have merely reacted to increased pressure from the communities that they

represent. Loyalist groups have expressed rising anger about the Irish Sea border, including in meetings with the Northern Ireland Office. While their leaders insist that all protests should

remain peaceful, checks on shipments from Great Britain were stopped for a time in the ports of Belfast and Larne on Monday, because of concerns about the safety of employees at the new

border posts. There had been an upsurge in anti-Protocol graffiti and suggestions that individuals were noting down vehicle number plates around the ports. Nationalists and pro-EU

politicians in Northern Ireland were quick to imply that unionist criticism of the Protocol was to blame for intimidation, calling on Arlene Foster and others to “dial down the rhetoric”.

Ironically, many of the people making these statements previously used the threat of Irish republican violence to insist that any trade border must divide the Province from Great Britain,

rather than involve checks at the international frontier between Northern Ireland and the Republic. To its shame, the Conservative Government eventually capitulated to these demands, which

were taken up by the EU and maintained throughout the Brexit negotiations. As a result, every day, new consequences emerge from the Protocol and the Irish Sea border. Last week, we

discovered that the Ministry of Defence was obliged to give 15 days notice and fill in customs declarations before it could move troops or equipment to Northern Ireland (the Government

claims these issues are now resolved). Earlier this week, we learned that pot plants, bulbs, agricultural equipment and even potatoes cannot cross the Irish Sea from the mainland if they

carry potential traces of “British soil”. A more fitting piece of symbolism could hardly be imagined. Perhaps most seriously, given the events of the past week, the Government will hand over

control of medicines in Northern Ireland to the EU, from the start of 2022. An unfettered supply of vaccines from Great Britain is only possible until the 31 December 2021, unless these

plans change. Unionists now want the Government to follow the Commission’s example and use Article 16 to counter these problems. The Article permits either the UK or the EU to “unilaterally

take appropriate safeguard measures” if the Protocol leads to “serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties….. or to diversion of trade.” Instead, the Cabinet Office minister

Michael Gove has reportedly asked the Commission to extend a series of “grace periods” for supermarket goods and parcels moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It shouldn’t need

to be pointed out that, while these measures are currently operating, they are not preventing empty shelves or an ongoing bureaucratic nightmare for hauliers. The Commission said it

triggered Article 16 to avert “serious societal difficulties” that might arise if its shambolic Covid-19 inoculation programme were affected by the export of vaccines to Northern Ireland.

That was always an unlikely prospect, compared to the very real problems with delivery and supply, as well as the crippling cost and complexity of extra paperwork, that are diverting trade

between Great Britain and the Province right now. Admittedly, the Commission subsequently reversed its decision to trigger Article 16. Notably, though, it retained the option to use it again

in the future, and required the Irish Republic’s Government to report on the quantity of vaccine doses distributed to Northern Ireland instead. The EU initially justified the Protocol, not

only with a lot of piffle about maintaining peace, but also on the basis that it protected its precious single market. The notion that a gardener buying a plant pot from another part of

their own country, or a shopper choosing a Marks & Spencer ready meal, or an Amazon delivery of alcohol to a private home, pose any risk to the single market is beyond ridiculous. By

asking for an extension to the grace periods, the British Government is just delaying the moment when the Protocol causes even more serious difficulties for Northern Ireland and the

companies that do business there. London must force the EU to acknowledge that the current arrangements are completely disproportionate and negotiate sweeping derogations very quickly; or

else it must take unilateral action and trigger Article 16 itself. A MESSAGE FROM THEARTICLE _We are the only publication that’s committed to covering every angle. We have an important

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