Brexit expert Aodhán Connolly to lead NI Executive's Brussels office

Aodhán Connolly has been a key figure in expressing the views of NI business to the UK government and the EU

Brexit expert Aodhán Connolly has been appointed to lead the Northern Ireland Executive's Brussels office.

Mr Connolly is currently the director of the NI Retail Consortium and chairs the Northern Ireland Business Brexit Working Group.

He has been a key figure in expressing the views of Northern Ireland business to the UK government and the EU.

The executive has long had a small team of civil servants based in Brussels.

The Northern Ireland Brexit deal, known as the protocol, keeps Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods.

That prevents a hard Irish border but creates a new trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, something the EU accepts is causing difficulties for many businesses.

• What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?

• UK and Irish prime ministers discuss protocol

• What is Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol?

The UK and EU are continuing to negotiate reforms to the protocol.

The EU has agreed in principle that goods from Great Britain which are going to stay in Northern Ireland should be subject to fewer checks and controls than those which are due to travel onwards to the Republic of Ireland and the wider EU.

But there is still a big difference between the UK and EU about how that should be implemented and what should be considered a reasonable level of risk to the EU single market.

If the protocol endures then the role of the executive's office in Brussels is likely to become more important in terms of trying to informally influence EU legislation.

Switzerland and Norway, which are not members of the EU but are members of the single market, both have large operations in Brussels.