Northern Ireland breaks the political deadlock after almost two years
The Democratic Unionist Party, Northern Ireland's main Protestant party and one of its biggest political forces, said on Tuesday it was ready to return to power-sharing after a nearly two-year boycott paralyzed decision-making in the region.
After an internal meeting that stretched into the early morning, Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the party known as the DUP, said at a news conference that he had been given the mandate to back a new deal to be negotiated with the British government had been negotiated, under which his party would return to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
“Over the coming period we will work with others to build a thriving Northern Ireland, firmly within the union, for this and generations to come,” Mr Donaldson said. However, he added that the return to power-sharing was dependent on the British government's legislation to establish a new set of measures that had not yet been made public.
The decision by the DUP, which represents those who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, will be welcomed by many voters frustrated by the political impasse, as well as by the British and Irish governments, both of which have applied pressure on the government. party to break the deadlock.
But it could also herald a seismic shift in the area's history, opening the door for Sinn Fein, the Irish nationalist party, to fill the top political role of “prime minister” for the first time, rather than ” deputy prime minister'.
Sinn Fein favors the idea of a united Ireland, in which Northern Ireland would join the Republic of Ireland, rather than remain part of the United Kingdom.
The announcement on Tuesday was welcomed by Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, who thanked Mr Donaldson and his colleagues and said he would deliver on his part of the agreement.
“I now believe that all conditions are in place for the return of the meeting. The parties that have the right to form an executive branch are meeting today to discuss these matters, and I hope to finalize this deal with the political parties as soon as possible. ” Mr Heaton-Harris wrote in a social media post.
Mary Lou McDonald, president of Sinn Fein, said that after hearing Mr Donaldson's public statement, she was “optimistic” that the meeting would be up and running again soon.
The breakthrough followed months of tense discussions between the DUP and the British government, aimed at returning unionists to Stormont, the Northern Ireland assembly in Belfast that was launched as part of the Good Friday Agreement that ended the decades of sectarian violence in the region. the problems.
Stormont cannot operate without the participation of the area's two leading parties, representing unionists, who are mainly Protestant, and nationalists, who are largely Roman Catholic.
The DUP resigned in February 2022 in protest at post-Brexit trade rules, and civil servants have kept the basic functions of government running ever since.
But bigger decisions require Stormont's approval, and Mr Donaldson is under increasing pressure to end the boycott, not only from the British and Irish governments, but also from voters in Northern Ireland, where services including health care are under acute be busy. .
This month, tens of thousands of people took part in Northern Ireland's biggest strike in recent memory, as public sector workers walked out in protest over their wages, which lagged behind those of colleagues in the rest of the UK due to the political stalemate.
In December, the British government offered a further £3.3 billion for Northern Ireland on the condition that the DUP returned to Stormont.
However, Mr Donaldson has also been pressured by hardliners in his own party to remain firm, and the decision to return to government could put him on a collision course with them.
In May 2022, Sinn Fein overtook the DUP in the parliamentary elections to become Northern Ireland's largest party. A few months earlier, the DUP had withdrawn from power-sharing in protest at post-Brexit trade rules, which imposed checks on some British goods entering Northern Ireland.
Unionists said these restrictions, set out in an agreement called the Northern Ireland Protocol, would drive a wedge between the territory and the rest of the United Kingdom, and called on the British government to all but reverse them.
In 2023, Rishi Sunak, the British Prime Minister, struck a new deal with the European Union, known as the Windsor Framework Agreement, forcing some concessions from Brussels. But they were not enough for the DUP
The party's concerns now appear to have been dispelled.
While many will welcome the prospect of restoring power-sharing, the deal will still pose a risk to Mr Donaldson as hardline unionist critics oppose compromise.
One of them, Jim Allister, leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice party, said in a social media post on Tuesday that “the DUP, in betrayal of their own solemn commitments, has caved” to Irish Sea trade rules. It appeared that “not a single word has been removed from the union dismantling protocol,” he added.