Campaigner seeks to take legal action against Michelle O’Neill over protocol checks paper

Campaigner Jamie Bryson (Brian Lawless/PA)

Campaigner Jamie Bryson is seeking to take legal action against Michelle O’Neill, claiming she blocked ministerial discussion of a paper around the implementation of Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Bryson contends that the former deputy first minister prevented a paper from the Department of Agriculture in relation to Irish Sea border checks from going on to the agenda of a meeting of the Executive.

The protocol introduced further checks on goods arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain as part of a mechanism to avoid creation of a hard border on the island of Ireland following the UK’s departure from the EU.

Lorries in the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs checking site close to the port of Belfast (Brian Lawless/PA)

Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots and his department are under a legal obligation to fulfil the commitment made by the UK Government in the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement to carry out the checks.

However the Executive had not approved the protocol checks, and in January Mr Poots submitted a paper on the future implementation of the protocol checks.

Mr Bryson contends that Mr Poots was obliged to bring the paper to the Executive in terms of the implementation of the terms of the protocol, adding Ms O’Neill “failed to discharge her duty to properly consider the paper”.

Mr Bryson has also named the head of Northern Ireland’s Civil Service Jayne Brady in his judicial review application, over her role in advising ministers of their legal duties.