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| Northern Ireland: power-sharing to be restored after parties back deal | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Sinn Féin announces support for British-Irish plan while DUP signals that it will also sign up | Sinn Féin announces support for British-Irish plan while DUP signals that it will also sign up |
| Northern Ireland’s main political parties have agreed to a deal that will lead to the restoration of the power-sharing government in the region following its collapse three years ago. | |
| On Friday evening, Sinn Féin confirmed it would back a deal promoted by the British and Irish governments which included plans to put Gaelic on a par with English, its leader, Mary Lou McDonald, announced. | On Friday evening, Sinn Féin confirmed it would back a deal promoted by the British and Irish governments which included plans to put Gaelic on a par with English, its leader, Mary Lou McDonald, announced. |
| She said: “We now have the basis to restore power sharing, and we’re up for that.” | She said: “We now have the basis to restore power sharing, and we’re up for that.” |
| She confirmed that the party would nominate ministers for a new power-sharing executive and said Irish language activists should “take heart” over the provisions for Gaelic contained in the new deal. | She confirmed that the party would nominate ministers for a new power-sharing executive and said Irish language activists should “take heart” over the provisions for Gaelic contained in the new deal. |
| She added that Sinn Féin was “committed” to Irish reunification efforts and to making sure people across the north-south divide enjoyed the same rights. | She added that Sinn Féin was “committed” to Irish reunification efforts and to making sure people across the north-south divide enjoyed the same rights. |
| The East Antrim Democratic Unionist MP, Sammy Wilson, also signalled on Friday night that the DUP is ready to sign up to the agreement and the SDLP announced it will enter the power-sharing administration. | |
| Wilson said: “I have huge reservations about the deal. [DUP leader] Arlene Foster herself said there is things in the deal that we would prefer not to be there but any deal is always going to be a compromise and I suppose at the end of the day the question is can we get back to stable government in NI and can we have local ministers dealing with the kinds of pressing problems I was having to address on behalf of constituents today? | Wilson said: “I have huge reservations about the deal. [DUP leader] Arlene Foster herself said there is things in the deal that we would prefer not to be there but any deal is always going to be a compromise and I suppose at the end of the day the question is can we get back to stable government in NI and can we have local ministers dealing with the kinds of pressing problems I was having to address on behalf of constituents today? |
| “The party has negotiated a deal in good faith with the government and other parties. There is not everything in that deal that I like, there is some things that I dislike very, very strongly in the deal but we have to get devolved government up and running in NI and I think that what we don’t like, we will live with.” | “The party has negotiated a deal in good faith with the government and other parties. There is not everything in that deal that I like, there is some things that I dislike very, very strongly in the deal but we have to get devolved government up and running in NI and I think that what we don’t like, we will live with.” |
| The party is to meet on Friday evening to formally back the deal. There is even a suggestion that a newly reconstituted Northern Ireland assembly may hold a special session this Saturday at Stormont to elect a parliamentary speaker and allow the five main parties to nominate ministers. McDonald, however, did not comment on the timing of any new assembly at her press conference. | |
| The DUP and Sinn Féin were threatened with fresh assembly elections if they did not agree a deal by Monday. With both suffering significant losses in the UK general election, that was not an attractive prospect, particularly as the centrist Alliance party doubled its share of the vote on 12 December. | The DUP and Sinn Féin were threatened with fresh assembly elections if they did not agree a deal by Monday. With both suffering significant losses in the UK general election, that was not an attractive prospect, particularly as the centrist Alliance party doubled its share of the vote on 12 December. |
| The public had also lost patience with politicians in the backdrop of one of the worst health crises in the region, with the first Royal College-backed nursing strike in a century. McDonald said: “The first action we believe of the incoming executive must be to deliver pay parity to health workers.” | The public had also lost patience with politicians in the backdrop of one of the worst health crises in the region, with the first Royal College-backed nursing strike in a century. McDonald said: “The first action we believe of the incoming executive must be to deliver pay parity to health workers.” |
| It is understood that the DUP will get three ministries and that one will be headed up by the MEP Diane Dodds, possibly education. Sinn Féin will run two while the SDLP, cross-community Alliance party and the Ulster Unionists will each control one ministry. | It is understood that the DUP will get three ministries and that one will be headed up by the MEP Diane Dodds, possibly education. Sinn Féin will run two while the SDLP, cross-community Alliance party and the Ulster Unionists will each control one ministry. |
| Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: “I congratulate those in Northern Ireland who have worked to reach agreement to allow a return to power sharing at Stormont. The Good Friday Agreement and peace process in Northern Ireland is a proud Labour legacy we are committed to support and protect.” | Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: “I congratulate those in Northern Ireland who have worked to reach agreement to allow a return to power sharing at Stormont. The Good Friday Agreement and peace process in Northern Ireland is a proud Labour legacy we are committed to support and protect.” |
| At the core of the deal proposed by the British and Irish governments is the creation of two new “language commissioners” as part of a cultural plan to put Gaelic on an equal par to English while protecting Ulster British culture. | At the core of the deal proposed by the British and Irish governments is the creation of two new “language commissioners” as part of a cultural plan to put Gaelic on an equal par to English while protecting Ulster British culture. |
| Earlier on Friday, the DUP and Sinn Fein appeared to have accepted the “New Decade, New Approach” paper put forward by the Northern Ireland secretary, Julian Smith, and the Irish deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney. | Earlier on Friday, the DUP and Sinn Fein appeared to have accepted the “New Decade, New Approach” paper put forward by the Northern Ireland secretary, Julian Smith, and the Irish deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney. |
| Sinn Féin’s ruling executive met around lunchtime to debate the details of the agreement with some concerns over exactly what kind of “veto powers” a unionist first minister might exercise over the commissioners who would have some legal powers to recommend or enforce policies such as dual language street signs but it appears those concerns were addressed. | Sinn Féin’s ruling executive met around lunchtime to debate the details of the agreement with some concerns over exactly what kind of “veto powers” a unionist first minister might exercise over the commissioners who would have some legal powers to recommend or enforce policies such as dual language street signs but it appears those concerns were addressed. |
| Coveney said history has been made after the restoration of government in Northern Ireland. Speaking to reporters in Dublin, he said: “History is being made today. We now have confirmation from the two largest parties in Northern Ireland that they both are committed to re-entering an executive and establishing a functioning Stormont again.” | |
| In comments that came before the SDLP announcement, he added: “Of course, that is not the end of the story as we want this to be an all-party executive so I hope that the Alliance Party and SDLP will also be able to join Sinn Féin and the DUP in that new executive.” | |
| SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said it was time to get down to work and deliver for the public. “We have had big commitments from the two governments and other parties to ensure that the things that we are concerned about actually get done in this executive,” he said. “That’s why we have taken the decision, as a party, to go into government to make sure that we can deliver for the people we are concerned about. We will go in, probably sceptically, but we will go in and we will do our best to deliver for the public.” |