Britain to extend deadline for N Ireland to restore power-sharing assembly
Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government for almost two years
23 January 2024 - 21:40
byAlistair Smout and Sachin Ravikumar
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Stormont in Belfast, January 17 2024. Picture: CHARLES McQUILLAN/GETTY IMAGES
London — The British government on Tuesday said it would extend the deadline for restoration of a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland until February 8.
Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government for almost two years after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) walked out in protest over the operation of post-Brexit trade rules.
Irish nationalists and pro-British unionist politicians are obliged to share power under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord that ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.
On Monday, the DUP said it would seek to close remaining gaps in negotiations about restoring the government.
Britain’s lower house of parliament will on Wednesday seek to pass a piece of legislation formally extending the deadline. The previous deadline expired on January 18.
“I am committed to restoring devolution and significant progress has been made towards that objective,” Britain’s Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said in a statement.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Britain to extend deadline for N Ireland to restore power-sharing assembly
Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government for almost two years
London — The British government on Tuesday said it would extend the deadline for restoration of a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland until February 8.
Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government for almost two years after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) walked out in protest over the operation of post-Brexit trade rules.
Irish nationalists and pro-British unionist politicians are obliged to share power under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord that ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.
On Monday, the DUP said it would seek to close remaining gaps in negotiations about restoring the government.
Britain’s lower house of parliament will on Wednesday seek to pass a piece of legislation formally extending the deadline. The previous deadline expired on January 18.
“I am committed to restoring devolution and significant progress has been made towards that objective,” Britain’s Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said in a statement.
Reuters
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