Liz Truss has pledged to “fix” the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol. The Protocol aimed to prevent a hard border with the Irish Republic. However, it has led to trade barriers with Great Britain (Belfast Live). Liz Truss will clash with Sinn Fein government in Northern Ireland. Truss insists on disrupting the NI protocol.
Furthermore, she supports the unionists in Northern Ireland. These issues will make Sinn Féin react and make the relationship between Belfast and London darker. Thus Sinn Fein will hit Liz Truss.
Devolved government at Stormont
As Belfast Live says, restoring devolved government at Stormont will be a crucial challenge for the incoming Prime Minister. The clock is ticking on fresh Assembly elections. Stormont’s current caretaker ministers can only remain in post for up to 24 weeks without forming a new Executive.
The DUP is continuing to block power-sharing in protest over the NI Protocol. Due to this issue, at the latest, there could be a snap Assembly election by mid-January 2023. There seem to be two choices for the new Prime Minister and the Secretary of State. They will have to decide whether to follow through with a snap election or whether to move the goalposts. The Telegraph says the DUP is refusing to form a devolved government until the removal or replacement of the NI Protocol takes place. Truss has less than two months to get the Protocol through the House of Lords and avoid new Stormont elections.
Northern Ireland’s political parties want
According to ITV, Northern Ireland’s political parties have called on the new prime minister to consider two issues. They want Liz Truss to restore power-sharing and resolve the problems around the Protocol. Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill said the new PM needs to prioritise the restoration of devolution at Stormont. Ms O’Neill also called for a “change of tack, change of policy and approach” on the NI Protocol. The Sinn Féin MLA added: When Ms Truss comes into her new post, she has an opportunity to work with the EU. Liz truss has a chance to work with the Irish government and find ways to reset relationships. She has an opportunity to find ways to make the protocol work.
DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he has already written to the new Prime Minister to outline what his party believes to be the main priorities. “Chief among those is taking forward the bill which will provide a basis for a solution to deal with the protocol, to remove the barriers to trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, to fully restore Northern Ireland’s place within the UK internal market,” he said.
Truss threatening to tear up NI Protocol
Liz Truss has claimed she would work to fix the NI Protocol (Bloomberg). John Finucane says Liz Truss serves in a government that dragged us out of the EU against our will. Their government-imposed austerity and cruel cuts to public services over ten years. It broke international law and is now threatening to tear up the Protocol. The Protocol is an international agreement they negotiated. John Finucane is a Sinn Fein MP. (Belfast Telegraph). Sinn Fein will hit Liz Truss because she does not consider the interests of nationalists in Northern Ireland.
Tories support DUP to block an Executive
Liz Truss has claimed she would get Sinn Fein and the DUP into government together in Northern Ireland if she becomes prime minister. She has said she would work to restore power sharing in Stormont (Bloomberg). According to Belfast Telegraph, Liz Truss has said: “For too long, people in parts of our United Kingdom have been let down by their devolved administrations playing political games instead of focusing on their priorities.” Mr Finucane says the conservatives are giving cover to the DUP to block the formation of an Executive. They are doing this when workers and families struggle with the rising cost of living.
Truss against Sinn Fein and for unionists
Truss says that in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein remains eager to drive a wedge between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Truss adds that she grew up in Paisley before attending a comprehensive school in Leeds. She says that she considers herself a child of the Union. She adds: “When I say I will deliver for our country, I mean all of it.” “As prime minister, I would also hold the role of Minister for the Union and seek to strengthen it,” she adds (Belfast Telegraph).
Truss stated that if she succeeded Boris Johnson, she would take on the role of minister for the Union. She added that she would end “constitutional division” across the UK. As most people will know, Sinn Fein has long wanted to secure Ireland as an independent Irish republic. So, when Truss made a comment claiming that the party is ‘driving a wedge between Ireland and the UK, it came across as one of the essential points of all time (indy100). Truss is a prime minister who will support the Unionists and suppress the Nationalists in Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein will hit Liz Truss as she threatens Sinn Fein’s interests.
Sinn Fein will hit Liz Truss
Sinn Fein MP John Finucane has said his party will “take no lectures” from Liz Truss. Finucane said this after Truss accused Sinn Fein of trying to “drive a wedge” between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Truss has insisted she would govern for the whole UK “family” if she gains the keys to No 10. Truss has added that “she will put an end to “constitutional division”. Mr Finucane told the Belfast Telegraph “, We will take no lectures from the Tories.” He added that Tories have “demonstrated that they, and their policies, are bad for the people of Ireland.” (Belfast Telegraph). Liz Truss will not be better than Boris Johnson for Northern Ireland. Therefore, undoubtedly, Sinn Fein will hit Liz Truss.
Final remark
Liz Truss has claimed that Sinn Féin is trying to “drive a wedge between Northern Ireland and Great Britain”. She has also criticised parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. She accused politicians in the devolved administrations of “playing political games” rather than delivering for voters (the Journal. i.e.).
Liz Truss has called on the Irish nationalist party Sinn Féin to “stop driving a wedge” between Northern Ireland and Britain. Ms Truss hit out at the party for creating a “constitutional division” in the country. In May, Sinn Féin became the largest party in the Northern Ireland assembly for the first time. It reached 27 seats in the election, pushing the DUP into second place. Michelle O’Neill became the country’s first nationalist first minister as a result. Truss commented as she attacked parties in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (JOE).
Ms Truss is starting her leadership with a fight against nationalists of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The people of these countries want freedom. They want to have the right to decide for their future. To sum up, Sinn Fein will hit Liz Truss if she does not respect nationalists’ rights and wants in Northern Ireland.
