Old fears are reignited

THE statement earlier this week by the Progressive Unionist Party, which has links to the Ulster Volunteer Force, that there is now ‘no basis’ for supporting the Good Friday Agreement, sent shivers down the spine of anyone old enough to remember a world before 1998.

Signed that year, the Agreement brought stability and hope for many years to a region ravaged by war.

The UK’s signalling that it wants an end to the Northern Ireland protocol saw the Cabinet’s Brexit sub-committee meeting earlier this week to consider options in case a trade war develops with the UK.

But a trade war is the least of the worries for the people of Belfast, Derry and countless towns and villages across Ulster, and beyond.

What they fear now is a slow, devastating return to the bad old days when Northern Ireland was a constant on our news programmes, and ‘breaking news’ bulletins reported stories which were far more sinister than anything on today’s rolling news feeds.

We can only hope that our government has the wherewithal, patience and expertise, to convince Boris Johnson and his cohorts to find another way to satisfy those unhappy with an Irish Sea border.

For all our sakes.