Trading blows in Northern Ireland

摘要

Conversations with commentators in Belfast about the Northern Ireland Protocol are inevitably peppered with phrases such as 'uncertainty', 'lack of clarity' and 'off the record', as well as 'unique position'. Simmering frustrations about the UK Brexit trade agreement have not been assuaged by the ongoing war of words between London and Brussels. Add to this is the split within the ruling executive in Stormont, with unionist parties opposing the protocol due to the introduction of a trade border down the Irish sea, it is little wonderthat tensions have spilled over on to the streets.