Hopes for ‘nil-all draw’ in NI protocol negotiations as mood improves to resolve row
Ireland is looking for a “nil-all draw” in negotiations between the UK and the EU, its foreign affairs minister has said, amid fresh hopes a compromise can be reached over the Northern Ireland protocol row.
At a news conference in London, Simon Coveney said: “What we’re after here is a nil-all draw, where everybody can walk away feeling that they haven’t won or lost, but they can live with the outcome.”
The comments hint an improvement in the mood in Brussels and Dublin, following a lengthy stalemate with the UK on the post-Brexit trading arrangements for the region.
Mr Coveney said renewed technical discussions between both sides had gone “reasonably well” and there was now a “genuine effort” by the UK to resolve the issues caused by Brexit.
He told reporters: “I think the conversations we’re having now with the British government certainly suggest to me that we are in a different space now, one we haven’t been in for quite some time, where there is a genuine effort… on actually how we can solve these problems together.”
He added: “Political leadership is about making things happen and sometimes surprising people, and I think that’s what we need to do over the next few weeks, to provide reassurance.”
The Northern Ireland protocol was agreed by the UK and the EU as part of the Withdrawal Agreement and sought to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit.
But the arrangements have created trade barriers on goods being shipped from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and are vehemently opposed by many unionists in Northern Ireland.
As a solution, the UK government has laid out legislation to rip up larges swathes of the Brexit agreement, which critics say in is in breach of international law.
Relations between the EU and the UK had been soured over the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which was introduced into the Commons by Prime Minister Liz Truss when she was foreign secretary.
However, this week has seen a shift in the mood with both sides appearing more positive about the prospect of a deal.
Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign affairs minister
Mr Coveney was in London on Friday to attend a meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, alongside Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.
Mr Heaton-Harris said he was “very positive” that a solution can be found over the protocol.
He added: “I believe we’re all working in good spirit with good co-operation to deliver on the changes that are required for the protocol to be fixed or the issues within the protocol to be fixed. And we need to we need to show some progress on that.”
He defended the UK’s right to push ahead with the protocol bill, but said it would be a “redundant piece of legislation” if a deal was reached.
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Minister of State for Northern Ireland Steve Baker, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris, Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee
Talks have been given a new impetus following the election of Ms Truss as prime minister and a looming deadline in Northern Ireland, where the row has stopped a devolved administration from forming.
Mr Heaton-Harris repeated his intention to call an election if the DUP does not return to the table by the legal deadline of 28 October.
Current legislation says that if Stormont is not restored by then, Mr Heaton-Harris should call a new election.
A joint communique, issued after the meeting, committed both sides to “doing everything possible” to restore power-sharing.
While both said progress on the protocol could help re-establish the executive, Mr Heaton-Harris said it was “fool’s gold” to talk about timelines, and Mr Coveney said it was “completely unrealistic” for everything to be agreed in three weeks.
“The starting point here is to build a bit of trust,” the Irish foreign minister said. “Now we need to move to the next step, which is the difficult stuff.”
Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada have come into effect, as has an additional 10% on Chinese products, bringing the total import tax to 20%.
The US president confirmed the tariffs in a speech at the White House – and his announcement sent US and European stocks down sharply.
The tariffs will be felt heavily by US companies which have factories in Canada and Mexico, such as carmakers.
Mr Trump said: “They’re going to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs.”
There’s “no room left” for a deal that would see the tariffs shelved if fentanyl flowing into the US is curbed by its neighbours, he added.
Mexico and Canada face tariffs of 25%, with 10% for Canadian energy, the Trump administration confirmed.
And tariffs on Chinese imports have doubled, raising them from 10% to 20%.
Canada announced it would retaliate immediately, imposing 25% tariffs on US imports worth C$30bn (£16.3bn). It added the tariffs would be extended in 21 days to cover more US goods entering the country if the US did not lift its sanctions against Canada.
China also vowed to retaliate and reiterated its stance that the Trump administration was trying to “shift the blame” and
“bully” Beijing over fentanyl flows.
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Mr Trump’s speech stoked fears of a trade war in North America, prompting a financial market sell-off.
Stock market indexes the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.48% and 2.64% respectively on Monday.
The share prices for automobile companies including General Motors, which has significant truck production in Mexico, Automaker and Ford also fell.
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Consumers in the US could see price hikes within days, an expert has said.
Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University, New York, said “the automobile sector, in particular, is likely to see considerable negative consequences”.
This is due to supply chains that “crisscross the three countries in the manufacturing process” and ” because of the expected increase in the price of vehicles, which can dampen demand,” he added.
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The Trump administration is gearing up to bring in other tariffs in the coming weeks.
On 2 April, reciprocal tariffs will take effect on all countries that impose duties on US products.
He is also considering 25% tariffs on goods from the EU “very soon” after claiming the bloc was created to “screw the United States”.
A truck has collided with a bus in southern Bolivia, killing at least 31Â people, according to police – just two days after a deadly crash claimed at least 37 lives.
Officers said the bus rolled some 500m (1,640ft) down a ravine after the collision on Monday, which took place on the highway between Oruro, in the Bolivian Altiplano, and the highland mining city of Potosi.
The driver of the truck has been arrested, while the cause of the accident is under investigation.
Police spokesperson Limbert Choque said men and women were among the dead, and 22 people suffered injuries.
Rescue teams operating at the site of the crash. Pic: Bolivia’s attorney general/Reuters
Bolivia’s President, Luis Arce, expressed condolences for the victims on social media: “This unfortunate event must be investigated to establish responsibilities,” he said in a post on Facebook.
“We send our most sincere condolences to the bereaved families, wishing them the necessary strength to face these difficult times.”
The crash happened between Oruro and Potosi
On Saturday morning, a crash between two buses killed more than three dozen people in the same region.
It happened between Colchani and the city of Uyuni, a major tourist attraction and the world’s largest salt flat.
People stand near the wreckage of one of the two buses involved in a crash on Saturday. Pic: Reuters/Potosi Departmental Command
Coincidentally, one of the buses was heading to Oruro, where one of the most important carnival celebrations in Latin America is currently taking place.
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More than 30 people were also killed after a bus crash on 17 February.
In that crash, police said the driver appeared to have lost control of the vehicle, causing it to drop more than 800m (2,600ft) off a precipice in the southwestern area of Yocalla.
Bolivia’s mountainous, undermaintained and poorly supervised roads are some of the deadliest in the world, claiming an average 1,400 fatalities every year.
The Pope has had two episodes of “acute respiratory failure”, the Vatican has said.
The 88-year-old has been in hospital since 14 February with a severe respiratory infection that triggered other complications.
The Vatican said the respiratory failures were caused by “significant accumulation” of mucus in his lungs and a “bronchospasm”, akin to an asthma attack.
Doctors were then required to perform two bronchoscopies – a test which sees medics use a long, thin, telescope with a light to look into the lungs – to evaluate the Pope’s air passages, the statement said.
“In the afternoon, non-invasive mechanical ventilation was resumed,” the Vatican continued. “The Holy Father has always remained vigilant, oriented and collaborative. The prognosis remains reserved.”
Vatican sources said the situation had been calm this morning, before becoming worse this afternoon.
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Behind the scenes at the Vatican
The respiratory issues the Pope suffered today are due to an ongoing infection rather than a new one but he is not out of danger, they added.
Asked if the Pope is in good spirits, they gave no answer. When asked if the Vatican’s apartment is getting ready to welcome Francis back, the source said it was too premature to discuss this.
His clinical picture remains complex, they said.
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Earlier on Monday, Pope Francis issued a written message after Vatican officials begged him to let his voice be heard following more than two weeks out of public view.
He thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers, before praying for peace in Ukraine and elsewhere.
“From here, war appears even more absurd,” he wrote.
People at a nightly rosary prayer for the Pope in St. Peter’s Square yesterday evening. Pic: AP
This has become the longest public absence of his 12-year papacy.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski presided over the evening rosary prayer in St Peter’s Square on Sunday night.
“Let us pray together with the entire church for the health of the Holy Father Francis,” he said.
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