{"id":14880,"date":"2024-01-31T12:47:39","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T12:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/31\/northern-ireland-power-sharing-could-resume-within-days-after-two-year-hiatus\/"},"modified":"2024-01-31T12:47:39","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T12:47:39","slug":"northern-ireland-power-sharing-could-resume-within-days-after-two-year-hiatus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/31\/northern-ireland-power-sharing-could-resume-within-days-after-two-year-hiatus\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Ireland\u00a0power-sharing could resume within days, after two-year hiatus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The main pro-union party in Northern Ireland, the\u00a0Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),\u00a0said Tuesday it had reached a deal with the\u00a0UK government\u00a0that would end its\u00a0near two-year government boycott and mark <\/strong>a return to power-sharing\u00a0in the province. <\/p>\n

Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the pro-UK DUP,\u00a0made the\u00a0announcement\u00a0at a press conference in the early hours of Tuesday morning. <\/p>\n

The move could see the first minister position filled by a member of the nationalist Sinn\u00a0F\u00e9in party for the first time since the power-sharing arrangement was put in place as part of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. <\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in won the\u00a0most seats in the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2022. <\/p>\n

Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government\u00a0for almost two years since the DUP walked out in February 2022,\u00a0ostensibly\u00a0in protest against trade rules put in place after the UK left the EU in 2020. <\/p>\n

Brexit put strain on the carefully calibrated power-sharing deal that was intended to help maintain peace in Northern Ireland, which was wracked by a bitter sectarian conflict known as the Troubles between the 1960s and the negotiated peace of 1998. More than 3,500 people were killed\u00a0in the violence, and about 47,500 people were injured. <\/p>\n

Post-Brexit trade rules\u00a0imposed customs checks on goods moving to Northern Ireland from the UK\u2019s mainland. <\/p>\n

A deal known as the\u00a0Northern Ireland Protocol was\u00a0agreed\u00a0to\u00a0allow Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, to remain within the EU market so that it could trade goods freely across its land border with the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state. <\/p>\n

The adoption of the protocol\u00a0infuriated unionist politicians in Belfast who claimed the move created a trade barrier\u00a0between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, therefore undermining its position within the union. Since then, the DUP has refused to return to government with the pro-Irish nationalist party Sinn F\u00e9in. <\/p>\n

Unionists in Northern Ireland, like the DUP, are in favor of remaining in the United Kingdom, whereas nationalists, like\u00a0Sinn F\u00e9in,\u00a0are in favor of the unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. <\/p>\n

Post-Brexit deal reached<\/h2>\n

At a press conference on Tuesday, Donaldson said his party had concluded that a package of new measures provides a basis for the DUP to nominate members to the Northern Ireland executive (the province\u2019s\u00a0governing body). <\/p>\n

He added this would be subject to commitments between the DUP and the UK government in Westminster being \u201cfully and faithfully delivered as agreed.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that a clear decision has been made tonight\u2026 And I believe that in that decision, we have a basis for moving forward, provided and subject to the [UK] government honouring its commitments,\u201d said Donaldson. <\/p>\n

Donaldson went on to say the package \u201csafeguards Northern Ireland\u2019s place in the Union and will restore our place within the UK internal market,\u201d adding it will also remove checks for goods moving within the UK and remaining in Northern Ireland, and will end the province \u201cautomatically following future EU laws.\u201d <\/p>\n

He said the\u00a0new legislation will guarantee \u201cunfettered access\u201d for Northern Ireland businesses for the rest of the UK. <\/p>\n

Speaking to BBC Radio on Tuesday, Donaldson said he expected the full details of the decision \u2013 comprising of both constitutional legislation and practical arrangements \u2013 to be published as early as Wednesday once the UK government finalizes details. <\/p>\n

He added the devolved government could return to Stormont \u2013 Northern Ireland\u2019s\u00a0seat of power\u00a0\u2013 within days \u201cif the (UK) government moves with the speed that I believe they can.\u201d <\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?<\/h2>\n

After the deal is published and the legislation is passed, this could lead to a recall of the Northern Ireland Assembly, which would need to see assembly members elect a new speaker. <\/p>\n

Once a speaker is elected, the political parties that are entitled to jointly lead the executive will put forward their nominees to lead as first minister. The executive is the body that makes decisions in Northern Ireland. <\/p>\n

For the first time, Sinn F\u00e9in will nominate a first minister because it won the\u00a0most seats in the election last year. <\/p>\n

The DUP\u00a0will also nominate a deputy first minister.\u00a0Donaldson will not be nominated because he resigned his assembly seat when the party walked out of the government two years ago. <\/p>\n

A \u2018significant step\u2019<\/h2>\n

The prime ministers of Ireland and the United Kingdom both said they were \u201chopeful\u201d that the deal with the DUP would help restore power-sharing. <\/p>\n

Downing Street said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was \u201cconfident that the steps taken pave the way for the restoration of power-sharing,\u201d while the office of the Irish Taoiseach (prime minister) said Leo Varadkar had a \u201cgood call\u201d with Sunak and that both leaders hoped this \u201cpaves the way for the early restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive and the Assembly.\u201d <\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris welcomed the move as a \u201csignificant step.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI am pleased that the DUP have agreed to accept the package of measures that the UK Government has put forward and as a result they are ready to return to the Northern Ireland Assembly and nominate representatives to the Northern Ireland Executive,\u201d said Heaton-Harris on X, adding that the UK \u201cwill stick to this agreement.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI now believe that all the conditions are in place for the Assembly to return, the parties entitled to form an Executive are meeting today to discuss these matters and I hope to be able to finalise this deal with the political parties as soon as possible,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s Vice President Michelle O\u2019Neill said she welcomed the restoration of power-sharing. \u201cThe parties will come together later today. We have much to do to confront the challenges facing our public services, workers and families which require urgent action,\u201d she said on X. <\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s T\u00e1naiste \u2013 the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence, Miche\u00e1l Martin \u2013 also welcomed the decision, calling the return of the assembly and executive \u201cgood news for the people of Northern Ireland, and the Good Friday Agreement.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to working with the Executive and Assembly in the time ahead,\u201d said Martin on X Tuesday. <\/p>\n

US Ambassador to Ireland Claire Cronin also welcomed the decision. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of Northern Ireland are best served by a power-sharing government in Stormont as outlined in the Good Friday Agreement. [US President Joe Biden]\u00a0has long made clear his support for a secure and prosperous Northern Ireland in which all communities have a voice and enjoy the gains of the hard-won peace,\u201d she said on X. <\/p>\n

Correction: This story has been updated\u00a0with the correct year\u00a0that Sinn Fein won the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly vote.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The main pro-union party in Northern Ireland, the\u00a0Democratic Unionist Party (DUP),\u00a0said Tuesday it had reached a deal with the\u00a0UK government\u00a0that would end its\u00a0near two-year government boycott and mark a return to power-sharing\u00a0in the province. Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the pro-UK DUP,\u00a0made the\u00a0announcement\u00a0at a press conference in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The move could <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":14881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}