NORTHERN Irish MP Colum Eastwood has called for political differences in the region to be set aside this week as a long-awaited deal on the NI Protocol is expected.
SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood welcomed the progress in talks between the European Commission and the British Government, which is expected to come to a conclusion today as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen meets with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London.
Mr Eastwood said: “The intense technical talks between the European Commission and the British Government aimed at securing the benefits of dual market access for businesses in Northern Ireland while addressing issues with implementation of the protocol are clearly reaching their conclusion.
“That will be positive news for people, businesses and communities here.”
He added: “All political parties in the North will study the contents of any deal in detail but we should all be approaching this moment in good faith and with a determination to restore the democratic institutions of the Good Friday Agreement.
“The politics of division and deadlock must be abandoned in the days ahead.”
Urging the political differences that have seen a stalemate return to the Northern Irish government to be set aside, Mr Eastwood claimed: “There will also be those who intervene not in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland but in their own narrow, selfish political interests.
“In order to bolster their own positions, I have no doubt some will be tempted to wreck a deal. The wreckers must be resisted.
“We must all be dedicated to finding agreement and working toward solutions.”
Addressing reports that loyalist paramilitaries have threatened violence in response to a potential deal on the Protocol, Mr Eastwood added: “Over the last week, our people and our politics has been united in opposition to those who have tried to take us back to the ugliness of violence.
“Whether it comes from dissident republicans or loyalist crime gangs, we must all stand together to resist those whose only concern is their domination of our communities.
“I am confident that the PSNI and the Paramilitary Crime Taskforce will continue to work to dismantle these gangs and diminish their insidious influence on our communities and our political process.”
