Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin has said a UK-EU trade war, because of possible changes to the current Brexit deal, would be “shocking” and “unnecessary”.

Martin called on the UK government to “get into the tunnel and negotiate” over changes to the post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland whilst speaking to the BBC.

The government last week announced plans to override key parts of the Brexit deal.

Earlier this month, speaking on Radio Ulster’s The Nolan Show, trade policy adviser for the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) Peter Hardwick said the impacts of the UK government discarding the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol could potentially be “very damaging” for the food sector.

When asked about the impacts on food prices if the British government were to “unilaterally pull” the NI Protocol, Hardwick said the result would depend upon the EU’s reaction to the move. He said: “[The EU] have a number of options, and those include looking more widely at the trading cooperation agreement (TCA). This is because the Protocol is an integral part of the TCA.”

The government agreed the trade deal with the EU in 2019 and if the UK follows through on abandoning agreed elements of the deal that create barriers on goods trading between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the EU has the power to suspend parts of the entire post-Brexit trade deal.