Social and political distancing on PM's NI visit
- Published
Health Minister Robin Swann, First Minister Arlene Foster, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and NI Secretary Brandon Lewis at a vaccination centre in Enniskillen on Friday
It was a day of social and political distancing for the prime minister.
A day when he was challenged by one party and "snubbed" by another.
But Boris Johnson got the political reception he was expecting with anger in both communities over his protocol policy.
It was clear even before he arrived his advisers were nervous.
They guarded his schedule so tightly he was able to ghost across Northern Ireland without a fuss or a protest.
Such was the media blackout he was three hours in Northern Ireland before the wider public was aware he was here.
Perhaps his team was spooked by the "betrayed by Boris posters" and feared a unionist backlash over the Northern Ireland Protocol and the new Irish Sea border.
Posters have appeared on lampposts across Northern Ireland calling for the protocol to go
In the end the only challenge he faced was from a fan of the BBC's Have I Got News For You? wondering why he no longer appears on the show.
The prime minister didn't have a line to respond, he just smiled.
That exchange happened in the vaccination centre in Enniskillen where Mr Johnson mingled with those queued up for a jab.
This was the big success story he was here to champion and share with a much-relieved public.
On his socially distant shoulder was the DUP leader and First Minister Arlene Foster who clearly enjoyed having the prime minister on her patch.
At one point she joked about waiting for the 50+ age category to get her jab.
The PM met people waiting for their Covid-19 vaccinations at Enniskillen's Lakeland Forum
But away from the cameras the pair shared a "frank" exchange about the Northern Ireland Protocol.
True to form, the DUP leader demanded it be ditched and said the prime minister was in "listening mode".
But true to form Boris Johnson gave no hint that scrapping the protocol was an option being considered.
He did say the protocol was operating in such a way as "to cause irritation to one community which needs to be addressed".
He said the " imbalance needed to be corrected", but didn't specify how.
Invoking Article 16 to suspend parts of the protocol was also still an option the prime minister insisted.
During a visit in August 2020, Boris Johnson met Arlene Foster and Michelle O'Neill at Hillsborough Castle
For Sinn Féin, Boris Johnson's visit was nothing more than "a day out for unionism".
The party was offered a meeting with the prime minister, but refused what it dismissed as a "photo opportunity".
It wanted a more meaningful political engagement but said that wasn't what was offered by Downing Street.
"I wanted to meet Michelle but she had some other engagement" was the response from Boris Johnson.
The optics were very different on the prime minister's last visit in August when he posed together with the first and deputy first ministers for a photo opportunity.
Relations have soured since then not helped by the stand-off over the protocol.
Back then the prime minister acknowledged the sensitives around Northern Ireland's centenary commemorations.
That might explain why details of planned events were slipped out yesterday morning without much political fanfare.
Boris Johnson returned to Belfast from Enniskillen by helicopter
There was no set piece event with the prime minister launching the programme and it barely featured in the Q and A with reporters.
The focus instead was on the protocol with familiar answers to familiar questions.
Unlike hauliers crossing the new Irish Sea Border for the first time, Boris Johnson's trip passed off without delay or disruption.
It went according to the Downing Street plan with lots of pandemic-led pictures and lots of unanswered protocol questions.