Dan O’Brien: Dublin and Brussels can but hope that Truss will cave on NI protocol

The British prime minister’s new Northern Secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, is a hard Brexiteer like herself – which is not a great sign for future Irish-UK relations

Dan O'Brien
September 17, 2022

Liz Truss, British prime minister, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin in Belfast last week. As foreign secretary, Truss had been leading the British charge on undoing the Northern Ireland protocol. Picture: WPA Pool/Getty

Britain now has a new head of state and a new head of government. The death of Queen Elizabeth after a 70-year reign is a milestone moment for our nearest neighbour. In the short term, her passing is likely to unify a country that has been unusually divided in recent times.

The main cause of this period of division has been Brexit and its consequences. Most analysts of European affairs always expected Brexit to have ...