Calling the protocol introduced as part of the UK government’s Brexit deal with the EU an “insidious threat”, the ABOD also said the government should not return to Stormont until it is fixed.
The statement was signed by Governor Graham Stenhouse and Secretary General Billy Moore.
It said: “Northern Ireland has been an integral part of the United Kingdom for 100 years, although our heritage was formed long before that in Derry, Augrim, Enniskillen and the Boyne. Our British heritage and our British identity are among the common bonds we share and cherish, and as one nation we are united in memory of those to whom we owe everything.
“The immoral establishment of the border along the Irish Sea has led to an unfair alienation from our loved ones. In Northern Ireland our place as equal citizens under one authority, our Supreme Parliament, has been compromised.
“Thanks to the Northern Ireland Protocol, the European Union has the undemocratic power to make rules and regulations that have a profound effect on our daily lives. This power is incompatible with Northern Ireland as an integral and equal part of the United Kingdom. We certainly face an insidious threat to our citizenship and our place in the United Kingdom. It’s time to take a stand.”
The statement went on to say that officials of the organization and members of the General Committee “call on our members to support all peaceful anti-protocol rallies taking place throughout Northern Ireland”, adding: “Our generation must demonstrate our unwavering resistance to this insult. to democracy. In the upcoming Northern Ireland Assembly elections, we ask our members and their families to ensure they are registered to vote and to vote for Unionist candidates who are determined to use all legal means to remove this barrier. Voter apathy is not an option.
“The merchants of gloom and despair want us to believe that nothing can be done, nothing can be done while sitting at home on Election Day. Let’s unite and make our voice and opposition to the Protocol loud and proud at rallies across the country. And vote for the Unionists who oppose the May 5th protocol.”
The ABOD statement concluded: “Stormont cannot be returned until the protocol is removed and democracy and our equal place in the United Kingdom are restored. Together we stand.”