Northern Ireland: British rule ‘has no legitimacy’ says Rooney
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In a furious outburst on GB News, teacher and author Kevin Rooney suggested that Unionism in Northern Ireland “shrinking” as a result of the fallout of the Brexit Protocol chaos as he claimed Britain has “no legitimacy” over North Ireland anymore. It comes as DUP First Minister Paul Givan has resigned from his role over fury at the damage the Protocol has caused to Northern Ireland, sparking sectarian tensions and destroying trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Mr Givan’s resignation comes a day after one of his party’s ministers ordered checks to be halted at Northern Ireland’s ports.
Mr Rooney told the show: “The Northern Ireland protocol proves one thing, Northern Ireland is not really part of the UK!
“The British rule in the north of Ireland, but they have no legitimacy and that is the bottom line, that is where we are at!”
Mr Rooney went on to claim that “British sovereignty does not enjoy majority support” in Northern Ireland as he launched further into a full throated attack on the United Kingdom.
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He also claimed “unionism every single day is shrinking” in Northern Ireland before going on to slam the DUP for their role in supporting Brexit adding how the resignation of Mr Givan was “music to the ears of united Irelanders”.
The republican noted: “Every day the DUP perform like this, liberal Unionists move away from the idea of the Union.”
Mr Rooney went as far as to claim how “Northern Ireland doesn’t work” and that it is “dysfunctional”, with the Protocol supposedly exposing these issues.
He then blamed the DUP yet again for the carnage, saying: “What the DUP have done is actually profound… I have no doubt when an election happens the DUP will lose support.”
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The teacher claimed that Sinn Fein would win an election and thus install a First Minister from the party and “sooner rather than later” will throw a “border poll” on the future of the island of Ireland.
Mr Rooney claimed such a vote will mean Northern Ireland will find out whether the “majority” of citizens in the region want to be part of the United Kingdom adding “I don’t think they do”.
He said: “The bottom line is, the Protocol is absolutely not going away, and the Unionists, if they were pragmatic, would realise that, and would stitch up a deal that would suit everyone!”
He claimed that as a result of the problems brought about by the Protocol, Unionists are “becoming imbetweeners” on the issue of a united Ireland, which he said he was “excited” by because they could be “won over” by Irish republicans.
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Latest figures from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office reveal that the value of goods imported from Great Britain fell by almost £2.75bn from January to November last year.
The protocol allows lorries to deliver goods without having paperwork and goods checked when they cross the border from Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland.
This arrangement was easy to maintain before Brexit. When both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were part of the bloc, they automatically followed the same EU trade rules, meaning no checks were required.
Despite this, a new arrangement was required after the UK voted to leave the EU. This is because the bloc has incredibly strict food rules and requires border checks when goods such as milk and eggs arrive from non-EU countries.
In order to get round the problem the UK and the EU negotiated the Northern Ireland Protocol. Under the current Protocol, Northern Ireland remains in the Single Market and there is a customs border in the Irish Sea, meaning Northern Ireland, though part of the UK, is now operating under different trade rules to the rest of the nation.
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