Boris Johnson was booed by protesters as his car arrived for Brexit protocol talks with political leaders at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland.
Demonstrators held placards reading “Back of Boris! Protect the protocol” as the prime minister’s motorcade swept into the official government residence.
Mr Johnson is meeting with the leaders of the five main parties to discuss potential changes to the post-Brexit trading arrangements.
Earlier, business leaders urged him to pull back from radical unilateral action to ditch protocol checks.
Mr Johnson has said the UK will have a “necessity to act” if the EU is unwilling to drop checks on goods coming from Britain into Northern Ireland.
Ministers are reportedly ready to table legislation as early as this week to override the protocol – despite EU warnings that such a move would violate the Brexit treaty and could spark a trade war.
