EU-UK talks would continue during N.Ireland election campaign - minister

The British government's Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said in a Twitter post on Wednesday that if a government was not formed by Oct. 28, he would be "required by law" to call a fresh election. But he told journalists in Belfast that he did not believe that ongoing protocol talks between London an Brussels would be frozen during campaigning.

The British government may be forced to trigger a Northern Ireland election next week but talks between London and Brussels on trade rules governing the region would not be frozen during campaigning, a government minister said. The pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refused to join a compulsory coalition in Northern Ireland following the region's May Assembly election in which Irish nationalist rivals Sinn Fein became the largest party for the first time.

The DUP says it will not join until its concerns about the post Brexit trading arrangements for the region as set out in the Northern Ireland Protocol are resolved. Brussels says checks on trade between Britain and Northern Ireland have been agreed to by the British government and are needed to protect its single market as a land-border with EU member Ireland is impractical. It says it is open to easing some of the checks.

The DUP insists there should be no restrictions on trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The British government's Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said in a Twitter post on Wednesday that if a government was not formed by Oct. 28, he would be "required by law" to call a fresh election.

But he told journalists in Belfast that he did not believe that ongoing protocol talks between London an Brussels would be frozen during campaigning. "I fully expect those talks to continue," Heaton-Harris said. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, speaking in Belfast after talks with Heaton-Harris, said he thought the chances of a major breakthrough in the talks between London and Brussels before Oct. 28 was "very unlikely" due to political upheaval in London.

Asked about the risk a Northern Ireland election will be triggered, Coveney said: "The Secretary of State is not bluffing." Coveney said he also believed talks between London and Brussels would continue whether or not an election is called.

British and Irish politicians have warned that an election might make it harder for the Northern Ireland parties to back a deal that requires compromise.

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