Northern Ireland's government restored following three years of political stalemate
After 3 years of cessation, the Northern Irish Assembly (Stormont) turned its lights back on, on Saturday the 11th of January following the approval of a power-sharing draft deal by all of the parties.
Stormont collapsed back in January 2017 after Republican party, Sinn Féin withdrew in a protest against the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) due to their leader, Arlene Foster’s refusal to resign following her involvement ‘Renewable Heat Initiative’ (RHI) Scandal. However, even before Stormont’s collapse in January 2017, relations between Sinn Féin and the DUP had been consistently deteriorating due to dispute over various issues including their stances on same-sex marriage, abortion and crucially the viability of an Irish language Act which Sinn Féin had long be championing.
Over the past 3 years there have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to restore a devolved government to Northern Ireland. Stormont has been inactive for such a lengthy period primarily due to Sinn Féin’s demand for an Irish Language Act which they claim is of pivotal importance for the wider catholic and nationalist community in Northern Ireland, however DUP refused to budge on this issue claiming it was a huge waste of tax payers money and inappropriate in a country within the Union.
The political deadlock finally lifted in the aftermath of the December general election where the Conservative party managed to secure a strong majority and dispel their reliance on the DUP in Westminster. Over recent months additional pressure has been mounting on all Stormont politicians to get back into government, including a particularly disruptive industrial dispute from ‘Unison’ where nurses took to striking over unequal pay with their UK-mainland counterparts. Many spectators have claimed the Conservative government have used events such as these as ‘political footballs’ to kick Stormont back into action.
The two key issues remained in the form of the Irish Language Act and nature of reform on the Stormont veto mechanism, known as the ‘petition of concern’.
A draft-deal titled ‘New Decade, New Approach’ was announced by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Julian Smith and the Irish Tánaiste, Simon Coveney on the 9th of January. By the 10th of January the new deal had been approved by all political parties and it was clear that the power-sharing assembly would resume the following day.
The point of intrigue then is, what were the contents of this new deal? Although it seems Sinn Féin have failed to secure a pure Irish Language Act, the deal has given full legal status to the Irish language much to the delight of Irish language campaigners. To keep the DUP content, the deal also contained a similar development for the Ulster-Scots dialect which has a strong symbolic nature with the DUP’s key support base. The new deal was also sweetened by the promise of the British government to assist the return to Stormont with a generous investment package.
The new deal has received a variety of responses following its approval. The DUP’s leader Arlene Foster has acknowledged the challenges of the deal but described it as “fair and balanced” while Sinn Féin President, Mary Lou McDonald said they were up for “genuine power sharing”. Despite the delight at the deal from Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and Irish Tánaiste, Simon Coveney the deal has been criticised by certain groups such as the Loyalist Orange Order whom have “very serious concerns” over the appointment of an Irish language commissioner and Irish language campaign groups have expressed their disappointment at the limited nature of the Irish language legislation.
by Oliver Watt