NO. IRELAND LEADER WANTS BREXIT PROTOCOL SCRAPPED

Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster has called for a protocol in the post-Brexit agreement outlining how goods pass between the EU and Britain - specifically relating to the British-administered part of Ireland - to be scrapped, Isobel Frodsham reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Arlene Foster - who supported Brexit and who fiercely opposes her region being treated differently from the rest of Britain - said the part of the agreement governing post-Brexit trade in Northern Ireland, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, has "not worked, cannot work, and ... needs to be replaced."

Writing in The Telegraph newspaper on Thursday, Foster said calls for the extension of transition periods are "not sufficient" and that "permanent solutions that include significant exemptions for goods for sale within Northern Ireland" are needed.

Her article comes after crisis talks between London and Brussels failed to come to a solution on Wednesday following issues surrounding goods entering and leaving the EU via the border in Northern Ireland.

However the Irish government responded later on Thursday by stating the protocol would not be scrapped.

After Britain left the EU's single market on December 31, border checks were put in place between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain to monitor goods entering and leaving the bloc. The arrangement was put in place to keep the border open between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which remains an EU member.

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