Future will have to wait in N Ireland
For the first time in Northern Ireland’s history, a nationalist party is set to claim the most seats in a political system that was originally designed to guarantee a unionist majority.
The Northern Ireland Assembly will resume function on Saturday after three years of suspension triggered by disagreements between two major political parties.
Sinn Fein and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the two largest political parties in the Northern Ireland Assembly, in addition to an ally of the former, namely Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), agreed to a deal put forward on Thursday night by the Irish and British governments to restore the function of the assembly and its executive branch, reports Xinhua news agency.
Sinn Fein Leader Mary Lou McDonald announced on Friday that her party had decided to back the deal and would re-enter the assembly and nominate their ministers for the new government.
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DUP leader Arlene Foster described the deal as a very fair and balanced one, adding that she believed that on Saturday the Assembly would sit again for the first time in three years.
The leader of the SDLP Colum Eastwood confirmed on Friday evening that his party would also back the deal and is ready to join the new government.
The Northern Ireland Assembly and its executive branch collapsed after a major fall-out in 2017 between the DUP and Sinn Fein over a botched heating scheme.
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