Sammy Wilson predicts that no deal on NI Protocol this week

• Sammy Wilson and Micheál Martin have expressed concern.
• That the UK government is approaching its negotiations with the EU.
• James Cleverly and Chris Heaton-Harris are scheduled to speak with Maro efovi.

Sammy Wilson, a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), has stated that he does not think the Northern Ireland Protocol will be resolved this week.

He told Media that there were worries the UK government was approaching its negotiations with the EU with “an attitude of defeat.”

He declared that his party will not consent to any deal that would subordinate Northern Ireland to EU law.

That occurs as James Cleverly and Chris Heaton-Harris are scheduled to speak with Maro efovi of the EU on Monday.

Video link will be used for the discussions with the UK foreign secretary and the Northern Ireland secretary.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said “no deal has been done as yet” and that “good progress and intensive work” was still needed.

“That is our focus in the coming days,” he said.

The Protocol, a contentious set of post-Brexit trade regulations for Northern Ireland, has been the subject of discussions between the UK and the EU for more than a year in an effort to find a solution.

According to sources, momentum was building towards a deal being finalized this week towards the conclusion of the previous week.

But, it now seems improbable that anything will be announced before the middle of the week, if not later.

Micheál Martin, the Tánaiste (Irish Deputy Prime Minister), stated that it was time to put “power-play” aside in order to find a solution.

Speaking on Monday in Brussels, Mr. Martin noted that the negotiations’ pace had not decreased recently.

“What’s very important is that everyone now from here on thinks about the people of Northern Ireland,” he said.

“Not power-play, not politics elsewhere – I think the people of Northern Ireland have had enough that, of people playing politics with their future.”

On Sunday night, he had a meeting with Mr. efovi, the chief protocol negotiator for the European Commission, to get an update on the talks.

Mr. Martin made what sounded like an implication that Mr. Sunak had adopted a stronger “problem-solving approach” than his predecessors at Number 10 and that negotiations had advanced at a “slower pace” under earlier prime ministers.

In an effort to reach a deal, Mr. Sunak spoke with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, on Saturday in Germany.

That occurred the day following a trip to Northern Ireland to present his ideas to the DUP.

The party, which is one of the most outspoken opponents of the protocol, is obstructing the operation of Northern Ireland’s devolved government in retaliation for the trade regulations.

The future of the political structures at Stormont will depend on getting the party’s support for any arrangement.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson stated that “progress has been achieved across a range of topics” after meeting with the PM on Friday.

Sir Keir Starmer encouraged Mr. Sunak to allow a vote by MPs on any protocol modifications on Monday.

He promised that the Labour Party would vote with the administration and “set party politics to one side” so that it wouldn’t be dependent on backing from Conservative MPs.

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