Sir, – Newton Emerson in his column headlined "Unionist acceptance of NI protocol very close" (Opinion, November 11th) puts forward a reasonable case for further simplification of the bureaucracy connected with the NI protocol, with a view to making it more amenable to unionists.
His argument might be more persuasive if one could detect any glimmer of reasonableness or constructive engagement in the approach of David Frost and the UK government to the discussions.
Their reaction to concessions proposed by the EU to date is to up the ante with further demands. There is every reason to suspect that the UK government is not particularly interested in assuaging moderate unionist opinion, but have a wider agenda of provoking a major headline winning row with the EU for internal UK political purposes.
It appears that further EU flexibility is unlikely to work and that as you correctly point out in your editorial (November 11th) the UK government must learn that there is a hefty price to pay for reneging on an international agreement.
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Sadly, both Ireland and Northern Ireland would also pay a hefty price in the course of administering such a lesson.
– Yours, etc,
JOE AHERN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – As always we get some great insights from Newton Emerson, and his column of November 11th is no exception.
His most insightful line was “Unionists also have to accept that living within an arrangement at odds with their nationality is what they demand of nationalists”. Enough said.
– Yours, etc,
JOHN O’CONNELL,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – Your editorial on the Northern Ireland protocol (November 11th), urges the elected leaders to ensure “that the rhetoric remains rooted in reality”.
When exactly was the last time this occurred?
– Yours, etc,
STEPHEN O’HARA,
Carrowmore,
Co Sligo.