King Charles quizzes DUP leader on Brexit deal stance

King Charles spoke with the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party about his stance on the Northern Ireland Brexit deal as he attended a ceremony in Belfast following the Queen's death.

Charles was performing his first visit to Northern Ireland as a monarch and had a long chat with Sir Jeffrey Donaldson about the European Union and the NI protocol.

At a reception at Hillsborough Castle, the royal residence of Northern Ireland, Sir Jeffrey told the new ruler he believed the situation could be resolved.

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Charles also spoke to Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill of the Northern Ireland Assembly and its current stalemate.

And Mrs. O'Neill, whose party are staunch Republicans, wished King Charles well and said she was sorry for the loss of her mother.< /p>

The Northern Ireland Protocol to the Brexit deal, which was brokered by Boris Johnson, has caused consternation among some trade unionists in the territory.

The treaty is designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit, but it introduced new trade barriers in the Irish Sea - which Unionists ideologically oppose.< /p>

The deadlock over the deal – which has popular support among the NI mainstream according to opinion polls – has sparked a power-sharing crisis in Stormont, with the DUP