UK PM Rishi Sunak hails 'new chapter' after finalising crucial deal with EU over Northern Ireland

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday (February 27) agreed to the crucial deal, which is aimed at overhauling trade rules in Northern Ireland during their meeting in Windsor. The breakthrough is expected to resolve seriously strained relations since Brexit.

Sunak hailed the deal as a "new chapter", saying, "I believe the Windsor Framework marks a turning point for the people of Northern Ireland. This is the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship. We may have had our differences in the past but we are allies, trading partners and friends."

Meanwhile, Von der Leyen also said she agreed it marked a "new chapter" after more than a year of fraught talks. She said that it would allow "a stronger EU-UK relationship standing as close partners, shoulder to shoulder now and in the future".

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Notably, Von der Leyen said that the European Court of Justice would have the final say on European Union law and single market issues.

Stephen Farry MP, the deputy leader of the Alliance party in Northern Ireland, tweeted: "Very encouraged that UK and EU have concluded a deal on the Protocol. The preservation of dual market access and reduction of barriers are the key tests for us. We will be studying the Agreement in that context."

A UK-based journalist tweeted that the Tory MPs discussed in the tea room that Sunak has pulled off quite a deal and one MP, whose identity was not revealed, told him: "It is absolutely jaw dropping what @RishiSunak has managed to get out of the EU."

Sunak vowed that the deal would be submitted to a vote in the UK parliament "at the appropriate time, and that vote will be respected". He further stated that the deal dismantled a de facto customs border that had sprung up in the Irish Sea, both to protect the EU's single market and a hard-won peace in Northern Ireland agreed upon 25 years ago.

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson said his party would "need to take time" to look at any deal on post-Brexit trading arrangements in the British province.

Donaldson said: "I'm neither positive nor negative - we need to take time to look at the deal, what's available and how does that match our seven tests."

(With inputs from agencies)

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