Brexit: Problems in first week of post-deal GB-NI trade
By Conor Macauley
Published
image copyrightReuters
image captionThe first lorries to cross the new Irish Sea trade border arrived in Belfast and Larne on Friday
Business leaders have described significant problems encountered on the Irish Sea trade border in the first week of its operation.
MPs were taking evidence on how new rules on imports from Great Britain to Northern Ireland were working.
They were told some British companies were not aware of how to comply and that had caused difficulty.
Six lorries on the first ferry arriving in Belfast on 1 January were delayed because of incomplete paperwork.
Northern Ireland Assembly votes against Boris Johnson s post-Brexit trade deal
MLAs held the debate as a majority of MPs backed a bill bringing the trade deal into UK law
Parliament Buildings, Stormont (Image: Kelvin Boyes/Press Eye)
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Brexit and Northern Ireland - the year in review
By John Campbell
Published
image captionQuestions about the post-transition trade border were not answered until late in the year
For much of 2020, the UK government appeared reluctant to acknowledge what it had agreed on Northern Ireland in 2019.
In August, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was still saying there would be an Irish Sea border over my dead body .
Later, his government was prepared to break international law to unwind parts of the agreement before finally reaching an accommodation with the EU.
The UK immediately entered a transition period during which it continued to follow EU rules while negotiating a new long-term relationship.
A senior officer who investigated the Army’s top agent within the IRA has urged extreme caution over closing down inquiries into unsolved murders in Northern Ireland.
Jon Boutcher led Operation Kenova, probing the activities of the mole codenamed Stakeknife, and said it showed that opportunities for prosecution could be identified.
In March, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis announced that only Troubles killings with “compelling” new evidence and a realistic prospect of court proceedings would receive a full re-investigation by police.
The Government said that, after a review, most unsolved cases would be closed and a new law would prevent those investigations from being reopened.