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Arlene Foster and senior MPs want new post-Brexit trade arrangements to stop disruption at Irish Sea portsThe leader of the Democratic Unionist party, Arlene Foster, and senior DUP MPs are launching a legal action challenging the Brexit deal’s Northern Ireland protocol.They will be joining other unionists from across the UK in judicial review proceedings unless alternative post-Brexit trade arrangements are put in place that...

Exclusive: Ban on plants being moved across Irish Sea is major setback for tree-planting programmes in regionOrders for almost 100,000 trees have been cancelled by Northern Ireland buyers because of a post-Brexit ban on the plants being moved from Britain, the Guardian can reveal.Leaders in the business say it is a major setback for tree-planting programmes in Belfast and elsewhere in the region. Continue...

Maroš Šefčovič tells Dáil in Ireland he wants new committee to find solutions to trade problemsThe EU is seeking to “de-escalate” Brexit tensions in Northern Ireland with the establishment of a new “clearing house” committee to work out solutions to issues caused by new trade barriers including controls on supermarket and chilled meat supplies.The European commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič said the introduction of the...

Attorney general’s decision comes after campaign by families of six men allegedly shot by British army in 1973The attorney general for Northern Ireland has ordered a new inquest into the deaths of six men allegedly shot by the British army in Belfast in 1973.Families of the men, known as the New Lodge Six, for the area where they died, have campaigned for an inquest...

Micheál Martin also asks member states to cool it before London meeting between Maroš Šefčovič and Michael GoveThe Irish prime minister has called for both sides to “dial down the rhetoric” ahead of crisis talks in London between the European commission’s vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, and Michael Gove, as tensions escalate over problems in Northern Ireland.Amid mounting anger in several EU capitals at UK demands...

Letter to Michael Gove says British must meet Brexit deal obligations before ‘flexibility’ can be consideredThe European commission has ruled out major changes to the Brexit deal’s Northern Ireland protocol, saying it would not even consider any flexibility unless the UK first meets its obligations under the pact in full.Hours before a major meeting in London on Thursday to resolve problems in the region,...

Chief negotiator, David Frost, claims bloc struggling to get used to ‘independent actor in its neighbourhood’The European Union is expected to ask for more time to ratify the Brexit trade deal, the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator has said as he laid the blame for continuing UK-EU tensions at the door of Brussels.David Frost claimed that a resolution to now strained relations required a “different...

Expert’s criticism comes as thinktank warns of more friction if UK fails to manage relationship with BrusselsThe EU and UK have behaved like an “absentee landlord” in relation to Northern Ireland, an expert on Brexit in the region has said, as a new report by the Institute for Government warned of more conflict across all issues “if the UK fails to manage the relationship”...

Northern Ireland has become a touchstone for Brexit Britain as trade barriers threaten wider disruption. In the port of Larne, the challenges being faced offer useful lessons for the wider UKThe union jack flew proudly on Friday over the Victoria Orange Hall, a community centre in the Northern Irish port of Larne. Ferries arrived and trucks rolled off. In many ways it appeared to...

Ireland’s foreign minister dismisses request by DUP in escalating row over trade barriers in Irish SeaThe Brexit agreement’s Northern Ireland protocol will not be scrapped, the Irish government and the EU have said in an escalating row over the new trade barriers down the Irish Sea.The Democratic Unionist party leader, Arlene Foster, has called for the measure designed to keep the Irish land border...

Bloc urged to delay full enforcement of checks on goods traded between Britain and Northern Ireland until 2023The Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove, has asked the EU for an extension to 2023 of the grace periods for full checks on goods traded between Britain and Northern Ireland.The bloc’s normal rules on customs and product standards are not yet being fully enforced in the Irish...

Decision came after council withdrew 12 staff at Larne following reports of ‘menacing behaviour’ Brexit checks on animal and food products arriving into Belfast and Larne ports have been suspended amid fears over the safety of staff, Northern Ireland’s agriculture ministry has said.The decision came after Mid and East Antrim borough council agreed on Monday night to remove 12 of its staff at Larne...

England has 78 flood warnings, Wales six, with rain and snow widely forecastWild weather over the weekend that brought sub-zero temperatures, storms, flooding and widespread icy conditions looks set to continue into the early part of the week in some areas of the UK.By Sunday afternoon there were 78 flood warnings in place for England and six flood alerts across Wales. The Met Office...

A new rule on exports from Europe suddenly blew up into a threat to the withdrawal agreement – and a hasty backtrackCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt started with a tweet by a blogger at 4.36pm on Friday. It ended with the prime ministers of the UK and Ireland warning the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, during late night calls,...

Commission plans to rush through regulations that ‘ensure Northern Ireland protocol remains unaffected’Coronavirus - latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageExplainer: what is article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol?Brussels will publish a revised regulation to potentially block vaccine exports out of the EU on Saturday, after an international outcry over its initial plans to erect an export border for doses on the island of...

Irish foreign minister warns Northern Ireland protocol ‘not something to be tampered with lightly’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageExplainer: what is article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol?The EU has said it is “not triggering the safeguard clause” to block Covid vaccine exports from the bloc to Northern Ireland after widespread condemnation of the move.The EU’s initial decision to trigger a Brexit...

European commission cites ‘error’ hours after proposal caused anger on both sides of Irish borderCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageExplainer: what is article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol?Brussels has been forced into a humiliating U-turn in the face of outrage in London and Dublin after seeking to trigger a Brexit deal clause to establish border controls on vaccine doses moving into...

The Brexit deal clause has been triggered by the EU to place controls on the export of Covid vaccines to NICoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageUnder Brexit’s Northern Ireland protocol, all products are normally permitted to be exported from the EU to Northern Ireland without checks, as NI remains in the single market for goods and continues to operate under EU custom...