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The press release issued by the DUP on 14 October 2022.

The Democratic Unionist Party welcomes the news that Peter Weir is to become a Life Peer sitting in the House of Lords. The conferment of this peerage is rightful recognition of the significant contribution and public service given by Peter over a twenty-four year period as an MLA in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

DUP Leader Rt Hon Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP said,

“On behalf of our party and indeed many throughout Northern Ireland I welcome this recognition for Peter. Peter Weir has given a lifetime of service to his constituents and to the Pro-Union cause in Northern Ireland. He will be a very welcome addition to our Parliamentary team in the House of Lords as well as a strong advocate for Northern Ireland and the Pro-Union cause throughout the United Kingdom.

I am also delighted that our friend and former First Minister Rt Hon Dame Arlene Foster has been conferred a peerage and will sit in the Lords. Arlene will be a strong voice for Northern Ireland and this is rightful and worthy recognition for her contribution and service to Northern Ireland. We look forward to working closely with her in the time ahead.”

Mr Peter Weir said,

“I am very honoured and humbled to be appointed to the House of Lords as a nominee of the DUP. At Westminster, I will be operating as a full time working Peer, advocating on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland, and promoting the great cause of the Union.

Northern Ireland needs stability and prosperity, and alongside my colleagues at Westminster, the Assembly and local Councils, I will focus on delivering those twin objectives, particularly through the necessary removal of the Protocol, which acts as a barrier to good governance and the economic well-being of our people.”

I am very grateful to my many friends and colleagues who have supported and worked with me over many years and with the opening of this new chapter I am pleased to have the opportunity to serve the people of Northern Ireland in Parliament.”

The press release issued by the DUP on 13 October 2022.

DUP North Antrim MP Ian Paisley has warned the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg that question marks over the future of devolution in Northern Ireland will continue to exist for as long as Brussels ignores the concerns of Unionists in relation to the Protocol.

Commenting after Thursday’s sitting, in which he responded to a report claiming Brexit has led to a ‘backsliding’ on human rights protections in Northern Ireland, Mr Paisley said:

‘‘There has been no reversal of human rights in Northern Ireland.

The European Convention was enshrined in Northern Ireland law by Sections 6 and 24 of the 1998 Act. This does not depend on the Human Rights Act or being a member of the European Union. There is also no absolute commitment to a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights in either the Belfast Agreement or New Decade New Approach and it is clear that any agreement at all is to be reached through consensus. In addition, the Government’s legislation on the Protocol would not alter any of its current obligations in this area.

The authors of this report should accept these facts but instead they are more interested in listening to the Sinn Fein spin and playing on the fears of people across Northern Ireland.

It is striking that there is not a single reference in this report to the immense damage caused by the Protocol to the cross-community consent principle that is foundational to power-sharing. It is as if the concerns of Unionism don’t exist. The report even has the audacity to suggest that in Northern Ireland ‘‘the general population is not really worried about the Protocol.’’

If there is to be a basis for stable government in Northern Ireland in the future, this sort of hostility to the legitimate concerns of Unionism must end. In fact we would be keen to know which Unionists, if any, the rapporteur of this report met during his fact-finding visit to Northern Ireland.

The Protocol does not ‘‘respect the constitutional order of the United Kingdom.’’ In truth, it alters and attacks Northern Ireland’s constitution position in the United Kingdom. This Party has a mandate to seek the restoration of our place in the UK internal market, and if necessary, we will go to the electorate and ensure that mandate is renewed.

The DUP is committed to ensuring these concerns can no longer be viewed as expendable. Unless legitimate concern about the Protocol is placed front and centre of the latest round of talks, that process will simply default to an echo chamber, casting the future of the devolved institutions further into jeopardy.’’