Brexit ups party tension in N Ireland

– 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 yesterday.

The pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein are supposed to govern together under a power-sharing accord reached in 1998 to end three decades of sectarian conflict.

But year-long negotiations between the two sides, after Sinn

Belfast

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 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.

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. –