Sinn Féin’s historic victory in Northern Ireland

For the first time, the party that wants to unite with the rest of Ireland is leading in the parliamentary elections, a defeat for the Union Party (DUP). Finally for the United Kingdom?

Five years after the 2017 parliamentary elections on Thursday, the Northern Irish were again called to vote for the 90 MPs who will represent them in Stormont, the Northern Irish Parliament in Belfast. Their response was resounding, if one takes a quick look at today’s results: A historic victory for the political spokesman of the IRA, the political party Sinn Fein, a drop of the Democratic Union Party (DUP) by almost 7%, but also a rise of 4.5 % of the neutral and centrist Alliance Party, which ranks 3rd out of 5th in 2017.

Inside or outside the UK?

Do these results indicate the beginning of the end for the United Kingdom? The answer is as complex as the current situation in Northern Ireland. These elections are the second after the Brexit referendum, but the first after its actual implementation. What does this mean; That now Northern Ireland is facing the problem of the Protocol agreed between London and Brussels, which has essentially created the so-called “hard” borders between the country and the other nations of the United Kingdom.

This has caused a great deal of unrest within the country, as the Northern Irish feel that the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, which was made to end the conflict between unionists and separatists or otherwise Protestants and Catholics, is being violated. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou MacDonald said just Friday that “the party has a five-year plan to hold a referendum.” But for thought to act, it must first rule…

Anarchy in Northern Ireland

The Good Friday agreement, among other things, provides for the obligatory government cooperation of the two speakers (Catholics and Protestants). So, no matter how strong the first party is, it should work with the second. But DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has already made it clear that he will not cooperate and contribute to the formation of a government until the issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol is resolved. As he clearly attributes his defeat to this, he demands either its abolition or its replacement before starting the co-operation talks.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, speaking on Friday before the results of the parliamentary elections were confirmed, promised that he would toughen his stance towards Brussels as his main concern is stability in the country. But it is well known that this is not so simple, as the negotiations between the two are at a dead end. And while the countdown is over by nightfall, it is important to note that a third party in Stormont is the neutral Alliance Party, perhaps reflecting the people’s tiredness from the endless controversy of the two strongest in Northern Ireland.

Zoe Katzagiannaki, London

Source: Deutsche Welle