Irish Sea border

Articles 4 and 5 of the Northern Ireland Protocol specify how goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain are to be handled. (Article 6 affirms that goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain have "unfettered access".) The detailed workings of Articles 4 and 5 were amended in early 2023 when the UK and EU agreed the Windsor Framework and put into effect from 1 October 2023. The Framework allows for goods supplied by trusted traders and clearly marked "not for EU" to be transferred with minimal controls.{{cite web |title=The Windsor Framework – key details |date=10 March 2023 |author= Atul Kariya | website=MHA |url=https://www.mha.co.uk/insights/the-windsor-framework-key-details}} The same dispensation applies to parcels, even quite large ones.{{cite web |title=Moving parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework from 30 September 2024 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/moving-parcels-from-great-britain-to-northern-ireland-under-the-windsor-framework-from-30-september-2024 |author=HM Revenue & Customs |date=8 September 2023}} ("2024" may not be correct, given that the Framework came into effect on 1 October 2023.)

When crossing from Great Britain into Northern Ireland, people carrying more than €10,000 (or equivalent) in cash are required to follow the same laws as when travelling from Great Britain to the European Union.{{cite web |title=New rules for pet travel from 1 January 2021 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rules-for-pet-travel-from-1-january-2021 |date= 16 December 2020 |website=UK Government |access-date=10 January 2021}}{{cite news |last1=Calder |first1=Simon |title=Irish Sea border: what has changed between Great Britain and Northern Ireland? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/brexit-irish-sea-border-northern-ireland-customs-b1780036.html |access-date=10 January 2021 |publisher=Independent |date=2 January 2021}}{{efn|{{as of|January 2020}}, about £9,000 or $12,000.}} (An initial plan to require pet passports has been suspended indefinitely while negotiations continue.{{cite news |title=Post-Brexit checks on pets travelling into North to be suspended | first=Freya |last=McClements |work=Irish Times |date=15 September 2021 |access-date=27 December 2021 |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/post-brexit-checks-on-pets-travelling-into-north-to-be-suspended-1.4675014}})

File:Stroud Street Belfast 01.02.21.jpg

While conducting Brexit negotiations during her term as British Prime Minister, Theresa May stated "no UK prime minister could ever agree" to an Irish Sea border.{{cite news |last1=Blevins |first1=David |title=Brexit: Theresa May and Boris Johnson's words on the Irish border have come back to haunt them |url=https://news.sky.com/story/brexit-theresa-may-and-boris-johnsons-words-on-the-irish-border-have-come-back-to-haunt-them-12156334 |access-date=10 January 2021 |publisher=Sky News |date=11 December 2020}} Similarly, in August 2020, Boris Johnson said that "There will be no border down the Irish Sea – over my dead body".{{cite news |title="There will be no border down the Irish Sea{{snd}} over my dead body." |url=https://www.itv.com/news/utv/2020-08-13/irish-sea-trade-border-over-my-dead-body-says-johnson |access-date=10 January 2021 |publisher=ITV News |date=14 August 2020}}

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) supported Brexit, but "opposed the protocol and voted against it in the House of Commons." Some Unionists, according to The Independent, believed that: "the Brexit deal has cut NI adrift from the rest of the UK, pushing Belfast further away from London, paving the way for an economic united Ireland", and loyalists called for the arrangement to be removed or, furthermore, for the collapse of the devolved administration. The governing DUP, however, said that "It would be a foolish idea to collapse devolution. It would remove the party who opposed the NI Protocol and give all power for Northern Ireland back to the UK government, who created and implemented the NI Protocol."{{cite news |last1=Mathers |first1=Matt |title=Brexit: DUP should make NI government 'unworkable' until Irish Sea border removed, says loyalist activist |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/brexit-irish-sea-border-dup-ni-government-b1783526.html |access-date=10 January 2021 |publisher=Independent |date=6 January 2021}} Speaking before Westminster voted to ratify the Trade Agreement, Lord Empey (chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party) argued that the Protocol came about because the DUP had indicated acceptance of it. He said that he had "pointed out that, immediately this document was released, Arlene Foster and her DUP colleagues endorsed these proposals, describing them as 'a serious and sensible way forward'".{{cite news| title= DUP told to face up to its role in creating border in Irish Sea |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/dup-told-to-face-up-to-its-role-in-creating-border-in-irish-sea-39912126.html |work = The Belfast Telegraph | author=Steven Alexander | date= 30 December 2020 |access-date = 11 January 2020}}

In January 2021, graffiti reading "all border control post staff are targets" was painted onto a wall near Larne port.{{cite news |title=Police investigating graffiti threat to Larne 'border post staff' |url=https://www.larnetimes.co.uk/news/crime/police-investigating-graffiti-threat-larne-border-post-staff-3110253| newspaper=Larne Times |date=22 January 2021}} On 1 February, DAERA instructed Border Control Post staff in Larne and Belfast to "temporarily suspend" physical controls on Products of Animal Origin, pending talks with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), due to threats to the safety of staff. "Full documentary checks" continued as usual.{{cite tweet|number=1356360792443117569|title=NEW: NI's Dept of Agri suspending physical checks at Larne & Belfast BCPs due to security fears. Serious escalation.|user=JP_Biz|date=1 February 2021}}

{{main|2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election}}

At the election to the Northern Ireland Assembly in May 2022, parties opposed to the very principle of a distinct arrangement for Northern Ireland (the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) and two Independent Unionists) secured just 28 of the 90 seats. The position of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), which secured nine seats, is more measured: although opposed to the protocol as it stands, the party would accept it given significant changes. Even with the UUP opposed, this suggests a 53{{ndash}}37 vote in favour of continuance.

• 2021 Northern Ireland riots
• Results of the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum § Northern Ireland
• Brexit and the Irish border

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• {{cite web |title = The Brexit Impossibility Triangle | author1= Emily Jones | author2= Calum Miller | date = 12 April 2019 |access-date = 11 January 2020 | publisher = Global Economic Governance Programme, University of Oxford |url=https://www.geg.ox.ac.uk/publication/brexit-impossibility-triangle }}
• {{cite news | title = Ireland and Britain face their respective Brexit trilemmas | newspaper = The Irish Times | author=Paul Gillespie |date= 22 December 2018 |access-date = 11 January 2020 | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/ireland-and-britain-face-their-respective-brexit-trilemmas-1.3738502 }}
• {{citation |title= Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol | url=

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/840230/Revised_Protocol_to_the_Withdrawal_Agreement.pdf | publisher = Government of the United Kingdom | date= December 2020 |access-date= 19 January 2021}}

{{Brexit topics}}

{{Borders of the United Kingdom}}

Category:2021 establishments in Northern Ireland

Category:2021 in international relations

Category:Internal borders of the United Kingdom

Border

Category:Maritime boundaries

Category:Ireland–United Kingdom relations

Category:Brexit