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02nd Oct 2018

DUP leader Arlene Foster says that the Good Friday Agreement is not “sacrosanct”

Alan Loughnane

Arlene Foster

She’s agreeing with Boris Johnson, something that should never happen.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has said the Good Friday Agreement is not a “sacrosanct” piece of legislation and could be altered to pave the way for a Brexit deal.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Foster said that many people misunderstand the legislation as set in stone.

She said: “It has been deeply frustrating to hear people who voted remain and in Europe talk about Northern Ireland as though we can’t touch the Belfast Agreement. Things evolve, even in the EU context.

“There has been a lot of misinterpretation, holding it up as a sacrosanct piece of legislation.”

Her suggestion echoes that of Boris Johnson who has suggested something similar, and she praised Johnson’s positive vision for Brexit and stated her belief that they could work together should he become the Prime Minister.

She also said that too much time in negotiations is being focused on whether things affect Ireland rather than what the UK can achieve.

“We haven’t been able to talk about the aspirations for the nation, we’ve spent so much time arguing about what’s happened, is it going to be a disaster for Ireland in inverted commas, instead of actually focusing on what we can achieve in the UK with the Brexit negotiations,” Foster said.

The DUP giving support to Johnson further weakens the position of Theresa May, who it’s reported, will deliver new proposals to the EU on the backstop today.

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