NORTHERN IRELAND LEADER QUESTIONS BREXIT DEAL

The head of the government in Northern Ireland has called for the special Brexit rules for the Irish border to be scrapped, in the wake of a spat with the European Union (EU) over new coronavirus vaccine export controls, Ella Joyner reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

"The protocol is unworkable," First Minister Arlene Foster told broadcaster BBC on Saturday, saying that she would urge the British and Irish governments to scrap these Brexit arrangements.

The Northern Ireland Protocol, which keeps the British-administered territory aligned with EU customs rules post-Brexit, is causing considerable tensions, Foster said.

The announcement of new restrictions on the export of COVID-19 vaccines made in the EU triggered a backlash in Belfast, Dublin and London amid confusion over whether exports to Northern Ireland could be blocked.

The European Commission was forced to clarify overnight that it was not triggering an emergency override clause in the Brexit deal, after apparently mistakenly invoking it in an official legal document on the export restrictions.

The new temporary EU system appeared to make possible even blockades of exports at the border between EU member the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, which officially left the EU with the rest of the United Kingdom.

Brexit negotiators had strived for years to reach an agreement preventing exactly this: Controls on the internal Irish border are considered poison for the fragile peace process in Northern Ireland, still recovering from civil war.

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