Statement by TUV Carrick councillor David Clarke:
“On the day when my party leader highlighted the growing issues arising from the Protocol as a result of the imminent Sea Parcel Border, it is very telling that Unionist Ministers in the Executive travelled to Dublin for a North-South Ministerial Council meeting.
“As one DUP Minister, Gordon Lyons, once said:
“If there is a choice between remaining in office or implementing the protocol in its present form, then the only option for any unionist Minister would be to cease to hold such office.”
“No one buys the nonsense that the tainted DUP/Donaldson deal changed anything when it came to the Protocol and yet here the DUP are in Dublin working North/South arrangements while our East/West connections are trashed.
“It’s time Unionism got serious about the gravity of the situation.
“In a matter of weeks, the whole basis of Belfast Agreement will be no more when Stormont holds its first significant vote on a pure majority basis since 1972 on the Protocol. Yet it seems that the DUP and UUP are happy to continue as if nothing has changed. It’s time they woke up!”