Gavin Robinson says DUP won't collapse Stormont on his watch - but Mary Lou McDonald dodges that commitment

Gavin Robinson also branded as “nonsense” suggestions by the BBC that the party might stop attending North South Ministerial Council meetings – a tactic it has used in the past. He said there was nothing to suggest this “was even a question” under his leadership.

At the weekend, the DUP boss told the News Letter that his party had not forgotten about the damage the Protocol had done to Northern Ireland. The arrangements had been designed to keep the Irish border open – but have been almost universally opposed by unionists as they put the border in the Irish Sea instead.

Despite this UK compromise on a key Irish demand, the Sinn Fein leader now claims that “post-Brexit realities have frayed the relationship” between the UK and Ireland, saying it was “fuelled in the most part by Tory gameplay, undermining of agreements and general belligerence towards the safeguarding of Irish interests”.

That claim is despite major concessions given by the British government on trade and rights in Northern Ireland, with the creation of an all-Ireland goods economy and EU rights enshrined in law via the Windsor Framework – something which will have to be considered in every new piece of legislation affecting Northern Ireland, according to the Equality Commission.

The BBC reported on Monday that the Sinn Fein president had declined to commit to not bringing down Stormont again, when asked at a Labour Party conference fringe event. The News Letter asked Sinn Fein if Ms McDonald would follow Gavin Robinson’s commitment to not collapse Stormont under his leadership, but the party did not respond.

While expressing a clear commitment to Stormont at the weekend, Gavin Robinson removed any lingering doubts about his party’s intentions in an interview with BBC Radio Ulster on Monday morning.

“I think if you read my speech (on Saturday) or listen to what I said, it’s the importance that I place on our ability to deliver for people in Northern Ireland, and you can only do that when you have a stable government, when we are making government work for people in Northern Ireland, when we are making Northern Ireland work within the United Kingdom,” he said.

Asked if he was answering yes to a question about never collapsing powersharing, he replied: “It is yes. It is yes because it is vitally important for us, but it’s vitally important for everyone in Northern Ireland that stability brings product, brings progress and shows purposefully what good government can do for you.

“That’s not to say that there won’t be challenges, of course there will.

“You’ll have stories every day about the challenges of wanting to do more much more quickly than we can ever hope to achieve, but not lose the sense of purpose. And, for us, there’s a constitutional side to that sense of purpose and within that making Northern Ireland work is key.”

Mr Robinson branded as “nonsense” any suggestion his party could instead boycott the North South Ministerial Council if further issues arise with the Irish Sea border.

“There was nothing suggested on Saturday or anything since I became leader that this was even a question, so I’m not going to fuel it anymore,” he said.

“I think it’s nonsense, and I think people need to grasp what they hear and engage with what they see, rather than look round the corner for dark shadows.”

Keeping an open border on the island of Ireland was initially a joint DUP and Sinn Fein position in the immediate aftermath of Brexit. A joint letter from former first ministers Arlene Foster and Martin McGuiness to then-Prime Minister Theresa May in 2016 appreciated her “stated determination that the border will not become an impediment to the movement of people, goods and services” – and said the frontier “has particular significance for the agri-food sector and animal health”.

A so-called ‘hard Brexit’ – backed by the DUP – led to a conundrum over that approach to the Irish land border. It was ultimately dealt with by putting the border on the Irish Sea instead and creating a frictionless all-Ireland goods market – with controls on internal UK trade.

So far, the effects have largely been felt in the trade in physical goods – the intention of the Protocol. But sweeping EU rights protections included in the deal may yet have an impact on issues such as employment rights in the service sector.

An upcoming Stormont update to employment legislation may have to consider whether it is compatible with EU law still applicable here. The NI Equality Commission – the body charged with upholding human rights law here – has made clear that those rights must be considered at the earliest possible stage in all UK and local laws and policies.