Unionist members of the European parliament have been accused of “bad manners” for not meeting the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator during a visit to Northern Ireland.
The Democratic Unionist Diane Dodds and Ulster Unionist Jim Nicholson, two of the three MEPs representing Northern Ireland, declined the invitation to meet Michel Barnier when he visited Derry on the second day of his trip to the country.
It was left to the third MEP, Sinn Féin’s Martina Anderson, to greet Barnier when he arrived at the Guildhall on Tuesday.
Anderson said: “I think it’s political bad manners that the MEPs – and I have to say the two council leads from the DUP and UUP – were both invited here this morning, and neither of them have turned up.”
On Monday, the DUP leader, Arlene Foster, said Barnier did not understand or respect unionism and was more allied to the Sinn Féin position on Northern Ireland.
The DUP is implacably opposed to regulatory alignment on the island of Ireland if it creates barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, while Sinn Féin has called for a special status for the region so it can remain allied to the customs union and single market.
Counties and customs
Inside the EU, both Ireland and Northern Ireland are part of the single market and customs union so share the same regulations and standards, allowing a soft or invisible border between the two.
Britain’s exit from the EU – taking Northern Ireland with it – risks a return to a hard or policed border. The only way to avoid this post-Brexit is for regulations on both sides to remain more or less the same in key areas including food, animal welfare, medicines and product safety.
Early drafts of the agreement Britain hoped to get signed off on Monday said there would be “no divergence” from EU rules that “support north-south cooperation”, later changed to “continued alignment” in a formulation that appeared to allow for subtle divergences.
But it raised new questions about who would oversee it and how disputes might be resolved. It was also clearly still a step too far for the DUP.
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Anderson said: “All three of us should be maximising the opportunity when Michel Barnier is in our constituency.
“On the one hand, while they say they don’t want a hard border in Ireland, I think what it does do is send a signal to the constituencies that are living adjacent to the border that maybe they don’t care too much.”
Dodds said she had not snubbed Barnier but had committed to meetings in London and could not meet him.
She told the BBC she had met him in Brussels “a few weeks ago” and insisted it was important to provide input at the Brexit discussions in London.
Nicolson said he would take “no lessons” in manners from Anderson pointing out Sinn Fein snubbed Prince Charle’s visit last October. “I have not, nor do I intend to snub Mr Barnier now or at any time in future,” he said.
Nicolson said the invitation to meet Barnier was issued at 5.30pm on Friday and he felt it was a “missed opportunity” for a wider gathering.
“Martina Anderson won’t dictate who I meet, when I meet them or where I meet them. I shall be meeting with Michel Barnier at the earliest possible opportunity for him to brief me on what his findings were.”
