LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “giving it everything” to strike a post-Brexit deal with the European Union on Northern Ireland’s trade arrangements, saying it was vital to ensuring a return to power-sharing in the province.
“There’s unfinished business on Brexit and I want to get the job done,” Sunak told The Sunday Times newspaper in an interview.
Sunak said he would try to resolve the concerns of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) which is worried about the EU retaining influence over Northern Ireland.
Ireland’s prime minister Leo Varadkar told reporters earlier on Saturday that Britain and the EU were inching forwards and an agreement was possible, but not guaranteed, in the coming days.
The Sunday Times said an announcement was expected on Monday, which is when lawmakers in Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party have been told to be in parliament.
In his interview with the Sunday Times, Britain’s prime minister said he was hopeful of a positive outcome to the talks and said he would spend the weekend trying to finish them.
Sunak, in a nod to the DUP’s worries, said the Good Friday peace agreement for Northern Ireland had been unbalanced by the Brexit deal for the province’s trade rules.
The DUP has prevented Northern Ireland’s assembly from operating in protest at those rules.
“If we want to restore the power-sharing institutions in Northern Ireland, which I very much want to do and I think that’s what people need and deserve, then we need to resolve the issues of the protocol,” Sunak said.
He said the shooting of a police officer on Wednesday “reminds us of the delicate situation in Northern Ireland, the fragility of it, and we shouldn’t take it for granted. And that’s why getting power-sharing up and running is really important.”
The officer is in critical condition in hospital.
(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Alexander Smith)
