Mr Paisley said,
“The Protocol has set Northern Ireland back decades. It was imposed against the wishes of unionists and has now led to the collapse of the institutions. We’re less interested in haphazard apologies and more focused on solutions to remove the Protocol. If apologies were our focus, there a few required for victims of terrorism who have been used as pawns in this process.
The Protocol has undermined devolved government by failing to have the support of one single unionist MP or MLA. It must be replaced by arrangements that unionists can support.
The best way to restore devolved government would be for the NI Protocol Bill to be expedited. A negotiated outcome would be welcome but we tried negotiations for two years and the EU repeatedly stated ‘there could be no renegotiation’.”
