NI power-sharing to begin again thanks to trade-boosting deal

RISHI Sunak’s latest postBrexit deal on trading rules for Northern Ireland was yesterday hailed on both sides of the Irish Sea.

MPs said it had ‘ turned the impossible into the possible’ by almost entirely eliminating checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea in a huge boost for Britain-Northern Ireland trade.

They also praised it for cementing Northern Ireland’s place in the UK by ending the automatic application of new EU law in the province.

Crucially, Stormont looks set to sit again within days for the first time in two years, with the DUP ending its boycott on power-sharing with Sinn Fein. It means key decisions in areas such as health and education can be made, helping to create a ‘brighter future’ for people in the province.

The arrangement will unlock £3.3billion in new funding, allowing for public sector pay rises and an injection of funds into key regional services. Legislation enshrining the deal in law will be voted on today in the Commons.

It is expected to pass, with Tory Brexiteers thought to be broadly supportive of the deal.

Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill is set to be installed as the first ever republican First Minister as early as this weekend.

Unveiling the plan in the Commons yesterday afternoon, on the fourth anniversary of the UK’s exit from the bloc, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said: ‘Today we have presented a plan which will deliver the long-term change that Northern Ireland needs.

‘It will strengthen Northern Ireland’s place in our union and guarantee the free flow of goods across the entire United Kingdom. It’s only by sticking to this plan that we will become a more united and prosperous country together.’

His Labour counterpart Hilary Benn described the agreement as a ‘great achievement’ while DUP deputy leader Gavin Robinson said: ‘We have turned the impossible into the possible.

‘We have turned the undeliverable into the deliverable.’

At a joint press conference near Belfast last night, Mr Heaton-Harris added that the deal would unlock a ‘brighter future’ for Northern Ireland within the UK.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the deal would deliver ‘ real change and progress for everyone in Northern Ireland’. He said: ‘Today’s agreement I believe is a positive and decisive step forward for Northern Ireland.’

The DUP walked out of Stormont in February 2022 in protest at post- Brexit trade checks blamed for driving a

‘Real change and progress’

wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. The political deadlock has left Stormont paralysed.

But the new deal, which builds on another agreement Mr Sunak struck with Brussels last February called the Windsor Framework, mostly wipes away checks on goods. They will only take place when smuggling or other criminality is suspected.

Brussels has given the deal its seal of approval.