1st for Sinn Fein
Head of Stormont after deal by DUP
MICHELLE O’neill is set to become Northern Ireland’s first nationalist First Minister after the DUP agreed to return to Stormont.
The Democratic Unionist Party had blocked a power-sharing government for almost two years in a bitter dispute over post-brexit trade barriers.
But after late talks on Monday night, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said it would end its boycott following an agreement with the UK Government.
As the largest party after the last Assembly elections in 2022, Sinn Fein’s vice-president Ms O’neill is in line to become First Minister within days.
She said yesterday: “I do think it is a day of optimism and some hope for the wider public. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us, a slog ahead of us, but collectively we can do better for the people we serve.”
The DUP is the second largest party and one of its senior Assembly members will become the Deputy First Minister.
The party’s boycott arose over fears on how Northern Ireland would manage trade after Brexit, given its position in the UK and relationship with of Ireland.
Sir Jeffrey said the deal will remove all post-brexit checks on goods moving into Northern Ireland from Britain.
The UK Treasury will also release a €3.85billion package to support public services in Northern Ireland, including money to settle pay strikes.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-harris welcomed the progress and said No10 would deliver on its end of the deal, which it will publish today.
Ms O’neill, 47, is from a republican family in Clonoe, Co Tyrone.
Her father Brendan Doris was an IRA prisoner and her uncle Paul Doris was one of three IRA men shot dead by the SAS in 1991.
She attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth and King Charles’ Coronation, saying she wanted to advanced peace and reconciliation.