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full screen A locked gate outside the Stormont Parliament Buildings in Belfast. Archive image. Photo: Peter Morrison/AP/TT
Northern Ireland looks set to regain political governance after more than a year and a half without its own government.
The unionist party DUP has reached an agreement with the government in London, announced leader Jeffrey Donaldson, without going into detail about what they have agreed on.
– All the prerequisites are in place, Donaldson said on Monday evening.
The DUP has refused to participate in the British mainland’s compromise-filled government since the May 2022 election, when Sinn Féin – which works for Northern Ireland to unite with Ireland – became the largest party for the first time.
In the background, Britain had been negotiating with the EU on the sensitive issue of the border between Northern Ireland and the EU country of Ireland. The DUP believes that the final agreement, the Windsor Framework, shields Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK too much.
The principle of power sharing in Northern Ireland has been in place since 1998, when the Good Friday Agreement put an end to a long and bloody conflict.