Ireland: The Irish Prime Minister Mr. Leo Varadkar has stated that mistakes were made on all sides in the handling of Brexit.
Mr. Varadkar vowed that he would be “flexible and reasonable” when attempting to solve issues with the Northern Ireland protocol.
Mr. Varadkar was recently elected as Prime Minister, or Taoiseach, for the second time.
“I am sure we have all made mistakes in the handling of Brexit. There was no road map, no manual, it was not something that we expected would happen and we have all done our best to deal with it,” Mr. Varadkar remarked.
The Prime Minister added that “one thing I have said in the past is that, when we designed the protocol, when it was originally negotiated, perhaps it was a little bit too strict. And we have seen that the protocol has worked without it being fully enforced.”
The Northern Ireland protocol has been a source of tension since it came into force at the start of 2021. The protocol is a part of the Brexit deal that keeps Northern Ireland aligned with some European Union trade rules.
Mr. Varadkar stressed that he understood that some unionists feel the treaty “creates barriers between Britain and Northern Ireland that didn’t exist before.”
However, the Prime Minister added that this was also true of Brexit, which was imposed without cross-community consent, and European Commission President Ms. Ursula von der Leyen as well as Vice President Mr. Maros Sefcovic have the same opinion.
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