Week-in-Review: Stormont is back, but the DUP’s Brexit strains remain

After two years of incapacitation, prevarication and false dawns, the movement towards the restoration of power-sharing in Northern Ireland this week proceeded at a genuine pace. And as far as the careful choreographers in the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) and NIO (Northern Ireland Office) are concerned, it’s generally all gone according to schedule. The first […]

DUP set to end 2-year Stormont boycott as leader hails ‘decisive’ breakthrough

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is on the verge of ending its 2-year-long boycott of Northern Ireland power-sharing arrangements after it backed a deal with the UK government.  Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the DUP, has now committed to reviving the mothballed Stormont executive and assembly, on the condition the UK government tables promised […]

Northern Ireland secretary vows ‘pragmatic’ legislative approach to restore power-sharing

The Northern Ireland secretary has vowed to introduce “pragmatic” legislation in his latest bid to address the region’s political deadlock. After the latest deadline to restore Stormont expired on Thursday, 18 December, Chris Heaton-Harris declared his intention to introduce new legislation in a statement.  He said his new approach would be “pragmatic, appropriate and limited”. […]

Biden v Donaldson: DUP set to defy US President in latest phase of Brexit tumult

US President Joe Biden alighted Air Force One on Tuesday evening with Northern Ireland still beset by political stasis. He arrives to deliver a keynote address to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement — a deal US lawmakers patronised and helped broker. But there is no disguising that the key institutional fruit […]

DUP to vote against ‘Stormont brake’ in Brexit showdown

DUP MPs will vote against the “Stormont brake”, a key part of the prime minister’s solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol impasse, when it is put before the House of Commons on Wednesday. In a statement, party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: “Our party officers, the only decision-making mechanism in our party on these matters, […]

Splitting and under siege, the DUP faces a Brexit showdown like no other

The discussion on the Northern Ireland Protocol has changed subtly in recent days — and not just because Brexiteers have new lingo, by way of the “Windsor Agreement”, to brandish. Rather, both the substance and tenor of the debate have shifted dramatically because the prime minister appears to have negotiated a better deal with the […]

Protocol undermines Northern Ireland’s right to self-government

While there has been some appreciation of the difficulties caused by the Protocol that the EU has seen fit to impose upon Northern Ireland as part of Brexit, the extent of the difficulties has been, and continues to be, massively under-estimated. One clear example of this tendency is provided by the Sub Committee on the […]