Divided over Brexit, N. Ireland marks a year with no govt
Belfast: Racked by tensions over Brexit, Northern Ireland is now on the brink of direct rule by civil servants in London after the province’s semi- autonomous government collapsed a year ago on Tuesday.
The pro- British Democratic Unionist Party ( DUP) and the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein are supposed to govern together under a powersharing accord reached in 1998 to end three decades of sectarian conflict.
But year- long negotiations between the two sides, after Sinn Fein brought down the government by pulling out of it, have proved unsuccessful.
Relations between the unionist and nationalist parties, which had shared power in Belfast since 2007, have been further strained by Brexit.
The DUP staunchly supports Northern Ireland leaving the European Union with the rest of Britain.
Sinn Fein backs remaining in the bloc and has called for a referendum on Irish reunification, warning that Britain’s withdrawal from the EU could have a devastating economic impact on Northern Ireland.
The pair are “unable to shape a shared policy on Brexit,” said John Coakley, professor of history at Queen’s University Belfast.
The DUP has become a key player in the Brexit process following last year’s general election in Britain, when British Prime Minister Theresa May lost her parliamentary majority and was forced to rely on the party to govern.
The Democratic Unionists have vigorously opposed the province getting any kind of special status after Brexit that could threaten the economic and political integrity of its union with Britain.
The party showed its strength in the negotiations by temporarily blocking a deal on the first phase of the talks in December.
Sinn Fein, alarmed by the level of influence the DUP holds, faces a “dilemma” over whether to resume powersharing, according to Coakley.
If they agree to form a new devolved executive, it would give the DUP even more power, while doing nothing would disappoint the electorate, he noted. Meanwhile
Northern Irish voters, who went to the polls in local elections in March, have watched as direct rule from London has edged ever closer.
This would be a return to a five- year period of rule by the Westminster government between 2002 and 2007.
In her New Year message, Arlene Foster, leader of the DUP, said “a return to direct rule would be an inferior alternative but it would be a government”.