DERRY JOURNAL Editorial: Protocol fixed, now get back to work

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - MARCH 01: General views of Stormont. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

The vast majority of people with a vested interest seem happy enough with the revised agreement over the NI Protocol and the thawing of relations that had become strained over Brexit.

Given the largely positive reception, there can be no more excuses, no more delays. It’s time for politicians to get back to work.

Ireland was always going to present the greatest challenges if Brexit was realised as it was, but those difficulties seem to have caught the Brexit cheerleaders by off-guard.

A hard border was never going to be tolerated here, and the new arrangements confirm that the freedom of movement will remain. Ursula von der Leyen and Rishi Sunak have also confirmed that the north will retain access to both markets, an envied position that could in time pay economic dividends. Furthermore, trade with Britain will become much easier for businesses with knock-on benefits for ordinary people. So you’d be forgiven for thinking the DUP and those who supported their Stormont protest here and across the water would be first out of the blocks claiming ownership of this new, improved deal. But it hasn’t worked out that way, at least not yet.

General views of Stormont. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

As the DUP pours over the minutiae of this new deal, the question being asked outside the party must surely arise from within – what happens and where have they left to go if they don’t back it? Where, indeed. The new agreement, it has been made clear, is the only show in town, and the majority of MLAs are raring to go, despite the immense challenges that await them.

So it appears there is only one real option here: Back to Stormont, back to power-sharing, back to work to help sort out the many urgent matters facing people across the north.