Early evening summary
Updated
DUP says Joe Kennedy, Biden's new economic envoy for Northern Ireland, must show he's even-handed
Joe Kennedy III, the 42-year-old scion of one of America’s most famous political families, has agreed to serve as the special envoy to Northern Ireland for economic affairs, the US state department has announced. My colleague Edward Helmore has the story here.
Irish Americans like Kennedy are often more sympathetic to the nationalist cause in Northern Ireland than unionism and Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, said it would be up to Kennedy to show he was even-handed. He said:
We welcome the fact that the United States is interested in developing economic links with Northern Ireland.
The appointment of an envoy demonstrates that commitment.
I think it is for Joe Kennedy to prove he will be even-handed in his approach.
He needs to take account of unionist views and concerns in relation to the economy.
While his role is economic matters, one can’t avoid the (Northern Ireland) protocol and the harm it is doing to our economy.
It will be important for the United States to gain a better understanding of the real concerns that unionists have about the protocol.
