Northern Ireland's fragile peace teetered on the edge of collapse on Thursday as Loyalist paramilitaries told Boris Johnson they are withdrawing support for the Good Friday accord over Brexit fears.
The outlawed terror groups said that unionist opposition to the protocol should remain “peaceful and democratic” in a letter to the PM, but warned they wouldn't change their position until the EU deal was altered.
Since January 1, goods arriving into Northern Ireland from GB have been subjected to added processes and checks, which some in Northern Ireland claim violates the Good Friday deal.
That bureaucracy is set to intensify significantly when the grace period ends at the end of March, as from that point supermarkets and other retailers will require EU export health certificates for agri-food products brought in from GB.
The letter to the PM the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) umbrella group warned: “If you or the EU is not prepared to honour the entirety of the agreement then you will be responsible for the permanent destruction of the agreement.”
DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, whose party leadership recently met the umbrella group said there was no evidence they planned to return to violence.
But police have warned of growing discontent in unionist facilities, and earlier this year ports were closed temporarily after threats against workers.
It came as Ireland’s foreign affairs minister said the EU is negotiating with a partner it “simply cannot trust” after the UK’s decided it would extend the grace period on the deal to October without consulting Brussels.
The European Commission is understood to be considering legal action against the UK.
Simon Coveney described the UK’s unilateral decision to continue Irish Sea border grace periods until October as “very frustrating”.
“This is not the first time this has happened, that they are negotiating with a partner that they simply cannot trust,” he said.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We are fully committed to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.”
The Government “will continue to work to safeguard Northern Ireland’s integral place in the United Kingdom” and to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland.
"We are determined to protect the agreement in all of its dimensions.”
