Rishi Sunak visits Northern Ireland with protocol deal imminent

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has arrived in Northern Ireland to hold talks with Stormont party leaders.

It comes amid speculation that a deal between the UK and the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol is imminent.

Mr Sunak last visited Northern Ireland in December when he met the parties to discuss the controversial post-Brexit trade arrangements for the region.

It is understood that the prime minister will speak to them again on Friday morning.

The Northern Ireland Protocol is the trade deal that was agreed to ensure the free movement of goods across the Irish land border after Brexit.

The UK and the EU have been in lengthy negotiations about making changes to how it operates.

The prime minister's spokesperson said: "Whilst talks with the EU are ongoing ministers continue to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure any solution fixes the practical problems on the ground, meets our overarching objectives and safeguards Northern Ireland's place in the UK's internal market.

"The prime minister... [is] travelling to Northern Ireland this evening to speak to political parties as part of this engagement process."

Mr Sunak arrived in Belfast on Thursday evening but did not speak to the press.

The suggestions are that if the UK and the EU can get all of their T's crossed and their I's dotted a deal on the protocol might be done early next week.

The Stormont parties the prime minister meets on his visit will want to press him about what will be in it.

But remember - none of this guarantees the return of functioning politics at Stormont.

That hangs on what the DUP makes of any deal on the protocol - it may well say that it won't back what's been agreed.

Tánaiste (Irish Deputy Prime Minister) Micheál Martin said that "trust has built up" between UK and EU negotiators in the protocol talks.

"The negotiations have been serious and substantive," he told Irish national broadcaster RTÉ on Thursday night.

"I've no doubt that the British prime minister, in advance of further discussions over the weekend and next week, wants to ascertain from the political parties in Northern Ireland a sense of the various positions that they have in relation to [the protocol]."

Many unionists oppose the protocol but a majority of Stormont assembly members support it in some form

A special meeting of EU ambassadors has been called for Friday to discuss EU-UK relations.

It is understood that Northern Ireland Secretary Heaton-Harris and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly will also meet the EU's chief negotiator Maros Sefcovic in Brussels on Friday.

One EU diplomat told the BBC that their understanding was that an agreement was getting close but it was not a done deal.

"They're getting everyone ready for things to move fast," they said.

What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?

The Northern Ireland Protocol was put in place as part of the post-Brexit deal agreed between the UK and the EU in December 2020.

It was required because Northern Ireland has a land border with the Republic of Ireland, which is an EU country.

It aims to ensure free movement of trade across the Irish land border by conducting checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain instead.

But it has been a source of tension since it came into force at the start of 2021.

• A simple guide to the Northern Ireland Protocol

Unionist parties oppose the protocol and argue that placing an effective trade border across the Irish Sea undermines Northern Ireland's place within the UK.

The largest of those parties is the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - it is preventing a government from being formed in Northern Ireland in protest against the protocol.

But a majority of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly are in favour of the protocol in some form remaining in place.

Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party and the SDLP have said improvements to the protocol are needed to ease its implementation.