NI newspapers: Unionist fury over Brexit 'betrayal'

In a rare show of unionist unity, there is collective outrage from the DUP, UUP and TUV in Friday's News Letter to Boris Johnson's Brexit deal.

"A great betrayal" is the unequivocal verdict, as the parties line up to condemn the agreement they fear would create a border in the Irish Sea.

The outgoing UUP leader Robin Swann says the "awful" deal is worse than the deal struck by Theresa May.

He said it "annexes Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK" and places it "on the window ledge of the union".

TUV leader Jim Allister tells the News Letter that a permanent regulatory and customs border in the Irish Sea "puts us in a waiting room for Irish unity".

"The scale of the betrayal is shocking," he claims.

The DUP, who have strongly criticised their erstwhile ally Boris Johnson, are a little more measured, but they too concede that the deal undermines the integrity of the union.

"We've Been DUPed Again," is the Daily Mirror's headline, accompanied by a photo of Mr Johnson laughing with Taoiseach (Irish PM) Leo Varadkar on Thursday.

The paper says a furious DUP leader Arlene Foster is set to give Mr Johnson a "Brexit headache" as he faces an uphill battle to get his deal through Parliament.

The PM, who did not even have a majority before he alienated the DUP, needs to convince 320 MPs from across the Commons to back his plan.

The Belfast Telegraph is a little more circumspect, quoting Mrs Foster as saying the deal is "not perfect" but can be worked on.

In a personal article written for the paper, the DUP leader warns Saturday's vote in the Commons will be "only the start of a long parliamentary process".

Mrs Foster insists the votes of her party's 10 MPs will be "critical" in helping to shape the legislation to get a better outcome for Northern Ireland.

She also warns that Mr Johnson's proposals "fundamentally rewrite the Belfast Agreement" and are "clearly without support within unionism".

To add to unionist concerns, the Telegraph says one of the architects of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement is predicting a referendum on a united Ireland within the next 10 years.

Indeed, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says those involved in drawing up the peace accord were under the impression that a border poll would have been called before now.

He said the "only reason" a referendum has not been held to date was due to the "stop-start" nature of the beleaguered Northern Ireland Assembly.

Former Liberal Democratic leader Tim Farron wades in and says he fears the Brexit deal could ultimately lead to the break of the entire UK.

"If I was Scottish or Welsh, I would be looking at the Northern Ireland deal and thinking: 'Well, why can't we be in a customs union with the EU?'- so it adds to the calls for the UK to be split up."

But the deal is by no means a fait accompli and the Irish News reports that the DUP is preparing to "bite back" against Mr Johnson at Westminster.

It says DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds accused the PM of losing his nerve in the Brexit negotiations and of being "too eager by far" to strike a deal with the EU.

The paper points out that the agreement got a better reception from nationalists and business leaders.

Their response could not exactly be described as a warm welcome, as they remain opposed to Brexit in principle, but there is consensus that this deal would be better than crashing out of the EU within days.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald calls it the "least worst option", while SDLP leader says the "by no means ideal" agreement would prevent a hard border.

Mr Varadkar is alone in calling it a "good agreement" and says it would allow the UK to leave the EU in a "orderly fashion".

Inside, Irish News columnist Allison Morris claims the DUP has "badly overplayed their hand" with the Conservative government.

She says if anyone is surprised that an "English nationalist" prime minister would "spare no-one" in his pursuit of Brexit, then they simply haven't been paying attention to Boris Johnson.

She says the DUP has "learned the hard way that the posh Tory old boys' club at Westminster is about self-preservation at all costs and the DUP have been deemed, like many who came before them, expendable".