Brexit – Northern Ireland: Agreement on maintaining co-government in Belfast

United and Republicans have agreed to maintain joint rule in North Ireland, avoiding a new political crisis in the province plagued by tensions after Brexes, announced the British government.

The agreement between the Democratic Union Party (DUP), committed to the country’s stay in the UK, and Sinn Féin, a supporter of reunification with Ireland, was reached shortly after midnight, following intense talks under the auspices of the British Secretary of State. Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis.

“This will allow the government to refocus on responding to issues that really matter to Northern Irish, such as health care, housing, education and employment,” Lewis said.

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Unionist Paul Givan, 39, a Protestant fundamentalist, will become the first local government minister (prime minister) today, following the appointment of the new leader of the super-conservative DUP, Edwin Putch.

Michelle O’Neill, 44, of the pro-reunification Republican Party of Sinn Féin, will re-assume the post of Deputy Prime Minister.

The British government’s commitment to legislating in favor of the protection of the Irish language this autumn, unless legislation to that effect is passed locally, has allowed the situation to be resolved, and Sinn Fein has made it a condition for any further cohabitation with the Unionists.

The deal allayes fears of a new crisis that has paralyzed Northern Ireland for three years after the government collapsed in the wake of an economic scandal. An agreement reached in January 2020 helped restore the province’s political institutions.

The DUP and Sinn Fein are expected to share power under the Good Friday 1998 peace agreement that ended three bloody decades of “riots” between Republicans (mostly Catholics) and Unionists (mostly Protestants).

The crisis this year was the result of the resignation of the first minister and head of the DUP, Arlene Foster, 50 years old, in the face of the strong dissatisfaction of her camp for the consequences of Brexit.

Foster has been widely criticized for its inability to impose customs duties on goods coming from the United Kingdom following negotiations under the Brexit agreement.

Disrupting trade, these county customs regulations to prevent the re-establishment of a border with the Republic of Ireland and to defend peace have revived tensions in Northern Ireland. Riots of unprecedented violence erupted in early April.

The provisions are at the heart of a dispute between the British government and the EU. By denouncing a “clean” EU approach, London is trying to have a more relaxed implementation, while Brussels is urging it to honor its post-negotiation commitments. of Brexit.

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