Belfast: The biggest pro-UK party in Northern Ireland, the DUP, announced on Tuesday that it supports an agreement with the UK government that will enable it to halt its protracted boycott of the province’s devolved government.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson stated that the restoration of the Northern Ireland Assembly after almost two years is based on an internal party vote to support the agreement at a meeting held behind closed doors in Lisburn, near Belfast.
Following a lengthy five-hour discussion and vote, Donaldson told reporters at roughly 1:00 am (GMT) that “the result was clear, the DUP has been decisive, I have been mandated to move forward.”
Donaldson stated that the deal’s specifics would be released soon, but he did not provide any other details.
“I believe that the proposals will bring forward measures that are good for Northern Ireland, and that will restore our place in the United Kingdom and its internal market,” he stated.
The DUP’s acceptance of the agreement “pleased” UK Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, who added that London “will stick” to the provisions of the agreement.
“I now believe that all the conditions are in place for the Assembly to return,… and I hope to be able to finalise this deal with the political parties as soon as possible,” he wrote on X, which used to be known as Twitter.
Should the agreement be accepted, the DUP and the nationalist Irish-propagandist Sinn Fein would be able to choose the Assembly’s speaker as early as next week.
Following her party’s victory against the DUP in the most recent Assembly election in May 2022, Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill is anticipated to become the first minister, marking the first time a republican has held the position.
“Optimistic… that we will see the northern institutions back up and running before the February 8 deadline” set by London, stated Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald in a statement.
In protest against the “Windsor Framework,” a set of post-Brexit trade agreements for the province, the DUP left the executive in February 2022.
The Northern Ireland Protocol was a previous agreement that needed to be addressed, thus the United Kingdom and the European Union brokered that accord.
Hardline unionists contend that the revised Windsor Framework regulations fall short of fully preserving Northern Ireland’s status as a part of the United Kingdom, leaving the area partially subject to EU law and moving toward Irish unity.
The DUP tried to change the regulations during lengthy negotiations with London, notably reducing the number of inspections on items that are transported between Northern Ireland and the UK.
