The Northern Ireland protocol agreed in 2020 has to be honoured, Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Tim Cullinan has said, as concern within the farming community about proposed changes to the protocol grows.

"Whatever the merits of the deal that was eventually agreed in December 2020, it has to be honoured.

"We have always said that Brexit would be damaging for our sector, but further unilateral changes will only add to the problem,” he said.

These comments are on the back of a bill which is being introduced by British prime minister Boris Johnson on Monday 13 June that proposes to amend the protocol, disrupting cross border trade.

The farming sector is going through massive upheaval at the moment

Trade between north and south is working well and is operating in a positive way, Cullinan argued.

"The farming sector is going through massive upheaval at the moment. The inputs crisis is putting huge pressure on farmers. Anything that creates more disruption will be very negative," he said.

Cullinan said that trade between the two countries must be safeguarded in order to maintain rural communities.

Prosperity

"Trade on the island of Ireland, and the trade flows east-west and west-east between here and the UK, are important to the economies on these islands.

"Every effort must be made to safeguard trade in agri-food goods, which plays a crucial role in the prosperity of rural communities," he said.

He added that the IFA has regular dialogue with the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) and National Farmers' Union of England and Wales (NFU) and that they "are committed to maintaining trade flows between here and the UK".