Details of DUP agreement with UK govt to be published

Details of the deal between the British government and the DUP that the party says forms the basis for its decision to return to power-sharing will be published today.

The DUP claims to have secured significant changes in post-Brexit trade arrangements, which it had argued weakened Northern Ireland’s constitutional and economic position within the UK.

Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson has said the agreement includes an end to checks and customs declarations for goods arriving from Britain that are destined to remain within Northern Ireland and not cross the border into Ireland and the EU’s Single Market.

It is also expected to reinforce Northern Ireland’s constitutional position.

Critics have described those changes as cosmetic without knowing the precise details.

The details will be made public today when the UK government publishes a Command Paper.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who is believed to have met the DUP leader in London last week, will be asked about the agreement and its implications during Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons this afternoon.

Many DUP members, particularly those who harbour concerns about the extent of concessions the party has secured, will scrutinise the detail to assess whether it delivers what the party leader has claimed.

Unionist and loyalist critics of the deal, who have described it as a sell out and betrayal, will seek evidence to support their analysis.

However, the DUP leadership team appears confident that it will stand up to scrutiny, with Mr Donaldson yesterday going as far to say the agreement will “exceed the expectations of many”.

Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has confirmed that a £3.3 billion package will be made available to the new Executive, but all of the parties who will be involved have said that is not enough.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar yesterday said that while the Irish Government has not seen the fine detail of the agreement, he does not anticipate that it will have any negative consequences for the Windsor Framework post-Brexit trade deal between the British government and the EU.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has also said he does not believe the deal will cause any issues for the EU.

It is understood senior EU officials are aware of the broad outline of the agreement and have not raised any concerns.

If that is the case it would suggest that the changes to the trading arrangements may not be as substantive as the DUP is claiming.

Mr Martin will be in Belfast today for meetings with Northern Ireland’s political leaders.

Discussions will focus on the next steps in the process to restore power-sharing, with a growing sense that a new Stormont Executive could potentially be in place as early as this Saturday.

Sinn Féin has said it will raise the need to resume meetings of the North-South Ministerial Council, which brings together ministers from Stormont and the Irish Government, as soon as possible.

The DUP also boycotted cross-border bodies as part of its protest at post-Brexit trade arrangements.

That boycott is also coming to an end.