DUP agrees deal to restore power sharing in Northern Ireland as two-year boycott ends
POWER-SHARING in Northern Ireland will finally restart after unionists and ministers last night agreed to re-jig Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal.
DUP chief Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he would end his party’s two-year boycott of Stormont, the Northern Irish parliament, once ministers enforce new rules affecting trade barriers in the Province.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris welcomed the long awaited move and vowed that the Government will deliver on its end of the bargain.
It could see Stormont up and running within days.
At around 1am on Tuesday, Sir Jeffrey confirmed that he had secured “decisive” support for the deal from the 130 members of his party’s executive.
What is the new deal between the DUP and UK government and what will it mean?
Exact details of the new deal are yet to be published, but based on talks it could include:
- An additional £3.3b for a resurrected cross-community government
- Almost £600m to help settle public sector pay disputes
- The amount Stormont can borrow for infrastructure projects will grow by £135m over the next five years
- A new “fiscal floor” meaning public spending per head in Northern Ireland will always be at least 24% higher than it is in England
- An end to all new EU laws being applied automatically to Northern Ireland
- The new deal will result in the resumption of Stormont after two years
Speaking at the Hinch Distillery in Temple, he said: “I am pleased to report that the party executive has now endorsed the proposals that I have put to them.
“The party has concluded that subject to the binding commitments between the Democratic Unionist Party and the UK Government being fully and faithfully delivered as agreed… the package of measures in totality does provide a basis for our party to nominate members to the Northern Ireland Executive, thus seeing the restoration of the locally elected institutions.”
The DUP have been using a veto to force Stormont and its institutions to grind to a halt for two years.
The pause in the parliament’s functioning came in protest at Rishi Sunak’s new post-Brexit deal.
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The Windsor Framework created additional trade barriers between Northern Ireland and Britain.
The DUP spent months locked in talks with ministers aimed at bagging concessions on the deal so power-sharing could be resumed.
Mr Heaton Harris hailed the DUP’s decision as a “welcome and significant step”.
He said: “I am grateful to Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and colleagues for the constructive dialogue over the past months and to the other political parties in Northern Ireland for the patience they have shown during this time.
“I 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.
“I now believe that all the conditions are in place for the Assembly to return, the parties entitled to form an Executive are meeting tomorrow to discuss these matters and I hope to be able to finalise this deal with the political parties as soon as possible.”
When Stormont finally resumes, Sinn Fein will take up the First Minister’s role.
The party’s president Mary Lou McDonald said: “I am optimistic having heard Jeffrey Donaldson’s public declaration that we will see the northern institutions back up and running before the February 8 deadline with a fully functioning Assembly and Executive and north south bodies.
“Sinn Fein will now engage with the parties and both governments to ensure we now all press on without delay.
“It is vital there is political stability to address the scale of the crisis across our public services.
“Let’s now focus minds on the job at hand and to the solutions required to support workers and families who want and deserve functioning government.”