EU willing to respond ‘comprehensively’ to unionist concerns on NI Protocol

Simon Coveney said both the UK and Irish governments wanted to avoid an “unnecessary election” as he warned that the context of an electoral campaign could make it more difficult for London and Brussels to strike a deal over the protocol.

People take part in a Loyalist protest in Newtownards, County Down, against the Northern Ireland Protocol. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

The EU is prepared to respond “comprehensively” to unionist concerns over Brexit’s Northern Ireland Protocol, the Foreign Affairs minister has said.

Simon Coveney said negotiations between Brussels and London over the contentious trading arrangements were continuing in a “positive light”, but said an imminent breakthrough was unlikely given the current domestic difficulties preoccupying the UK government at Westminster.