A new agriculture minister could shortly be appointed in Northern Ireland after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) agreed to a deal to restore power sharing.
The party stressed that the deal is subject to legislation being brought forward by the UK government to address issues around trade rules arising from Brexit.
The development means that the Stormont Assembly could be restored in the coming days after a suspension of almost two years.
The DUP has boycotted devolution at Stormont over the Northern Ireland Protocol and the Windsor Framework.
Northern Ireland
The announcement was made by DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson following a dramatic five-hour meeting overnight.
He said that the party executive had endorsed the proposals that he had presented to him.
Donaldson said that the party had concluded that subject to “the binding commitments” between the DUP and the UK government being “fully and faithfully delivered” as agreed.
He said that this would include the tabling and passing of new legislative measures by the parliament, along with “final agreement on a timetable”.
Donaldson said that the package of measures “in totality” provides a basis for the DUP to nominate members to the Northern Ireland Executive which would result in “the restoration of the locally elected institutions”.
The unionist leader said that “significant further advances” had been achieved through negotiations between the DUP and the UK government.
He added that the details of the new package of measures will be published by the UK government “in due course”.
“This package, I believe, safeguards Northern Ireland’s place in the union and will restore our place within the UK internal market,” Donaldson told a press conference in the early hours of this morning (Tuesday, January 30).
He said that the agreement would “remove checks for goods moving within the UK and remaining in Northern Ireland”.
Donaldson added that deal would also “end Northern Ireland automatically following future EU laws”.
Power-sharing
Following the outcome of the meeting, Sinn Féin has announced that it will engage with political parties and the Irish and UK governments in an effort to restore a functioning government in Northern Ireland.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has welcomed the decision by the DUP.
“The imminent return of the assembly and executive is good news for the people of Northern Ireland, and the Good Friday Agreement.
“I look forward to working with the executive and assembly in the time ahead,” Martin said in a post on social media.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris described the DUP announcement as “a welcome and significant step”.
“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.
“Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said this is subject to the binding commitments between the Democratic Unionist Party and the UK government – I can confirm that we will stick to this agreement.
“I now believe that all the conditions are in place for the Assembly to return, the parties entitled to form an Executive are meeting today to discuss these matters and I hope to be able to finalise this deal with the political parties as soon as possible,” he said.
