Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is visiting Northern Ireland amid growing speculation that a deal between the UK and EU over the controversial post-Brexit protocol is imminent.

Mr Sunak arrived in the region on Thursday night with Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.

He will hold talks with Stormont parties and other stakeholders over the Northern Ireland Protocol on Friday.

The Prime Minister last visited Northern Ireland in December and his latest visit will be seen as a signal that a deal over the trading arrangements for the region could be unveiled within days.

A No 10 spokeswoman said: “Whilst talks with the EU are ongoing, ministers continue to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure any solution fixes the practical problems on the ground, meets our overarching objectives, and safeguards Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market.

The spokeswoman confirmed that Mr Sunak and Mr Heaton-Harris would be speaking to Northern Ireland political parties as part of the “engagement process”.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will meet European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic on Friday morning.

A UK government spokesperson said: “The Foreign Secretary is travelling to Brussels to meet Vice President Sefcovic for talks on the Northern Ireland Protocol.

“This is part of their ongoing engagement and constructive dialogue with the EU to find practical solutions that work for the people of Northern Ireland.”

Brexit
Tanaiste Micheal Martin said negotiations between the EU and the UK had been ‘serious and substantive’ (Brian Lawless/PA)

Speaking on Thursday evening, Irish Tanaiste Micheal Martin said negotiations over the protocol had been “serious and substantive”.

He told RTE: “I think the British Government is anxious to afford a consultation with the Northern Ireland parties in the context of the discussions that have been under way for some time between the European Union and the United Kingdom.

“I have no doubt that the British Prime Minister, in advance of further discussions over the weekend and next week, wants to ascertain from the political parties in Northern Ireland their sense of the protocol and the various positions that they have.

“I think there is a distance to go yet. I don’t understate the challenges, but clearly the negotiations have been serious and substantive and trust has built up between the EU team and the UK team but I think there is some time to go yet.”

However, a senior DUP figure has warned that a failure to end the imposition of EU law in Northern Ireland in any new UK/EU deal on post-Brexit trade will ensure Stormont’s powersharing impasse continues.

Lord Nigel Dodds insisted his party would maintain its block on devolution if an agreement falls short of the measures contained within the UK Government’s own stalled draft legislation to unilaterally rip up the contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill includes provisions that would remove the oversight of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the region.

While it is understood the EU and UK are close to signing off a deal that would reduce protocol red tape on the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, there is no expectation that Brussels is willing to agree to ending the application of EU law in the region.

Democratic Unionist Party meet to ratify new leader
Lord Nigel Dodds (Brian Lawless/PA)

The EU contends a fundamental plank of the protocol – namely that Northern Ireland traders can sell freely into the European single market – is dependent on the operation of EU rules in the region.

Following his visit to Northern Ireland, Mr Sunak is set to join European leaders in Germany this weekend for the Munich Security Conference and the protocol is likely to feature in discussions on the margins.

Lord Dodds, a former deputy leader of the DUP who now leads the party in the House of Lords, said the continued application of EU law in Northern Ireland would not be acceptable to his party.

His comments, and similar remarks from other senior colleagues, suggest a new deal between the EU and UK may not ultimately be enough to convince the DUP to return to powersharing at Stormont.

The DUP is blocking the functioning of the devolved institutions in Belfast in protest at the protocol.

In 2021, the DUP set out seven tests by which it will judge changes to the protocol. Those tests did not include a specific reference to ECJ oversight.

In an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Lord Dodds said the fundamental issue was the “imposition of the EU law on Northern Ireland”.

“If you deal with that, then you deal with the court situation (ECJ),” he said.

Members of the Eurosceptic ERG within the Conservative Party have also expressed concern about any deal over the protocol which does not include removal of the oversight of the ECJ.