Power-sharing in Northern Ireland is set to return after the DUP party leadership backed a government deal aimed at addressing concerns over post-Brexit trade barriers.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he would drop the devolution blockade in Stormont once the government implemented the various legal guarantees and other measures it has offered to his party.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris welcomed the move and made clear the government would honor its commitments.
Sir Jeffrey told reporters at a post-1am press conference in Co Down that he had secured the “decisive” support of the 130-strong party leadership during a marathon meeting on Monday evening.
He said party officials from the DUP – a key decision-making body with 12 members – had also “given him a brief” to move forward on the basis he was proposing.
During the power-sharing standoff, the DUP has used “seven tests” to measure proposals aimed at addressing its concerns over trading arrangements. Sir Jeffrey said the package on the table represented “progress” across all seven tests.
Support for the deal is not unanimous within the DUP and several senior figures remain strongly opposed to the proposed deal to restore power-sharing.
Asked about possible disagreements within the party, Sir Jeffrey added: “I am confident that all members of the party will accept the party leadership’s decisive move tonight.”
About fifty loyalist and unionist protesters gathered outside Monday night’s meeting on the Larchfield estate in Co Down, many carrying posters and banners warning against a DUP “sell-out”.
Some shouted at DUP members as they entered the grounds of the venue.
The party has been using a veto to block Stormont’s devolved institutions for two years in protest at post-Brexit arrangements that have created trade barriers between Britain and Northern Ireland.
The country has been involved in lengthy talks with the government aimed at securing concessions on arrangements that would address its concerns around trade and sovereignty.
Sir Jeffrey insisted he had secured enough support from the party to set in motion a chain of events that would result in Stormont’s return.
“The officials, the Assembly group, the Parliamentary group and the central executive of the Democratic Unionist Party have now been briefed and have considered all aspects of our negotiations between the UK government and the DUP,” he said.
“I am pleased to report that the party leadership has now endorsed the proposals I submitted to them.
“The party has concluded that, provided that the binding commitments between the Democratic Unionist Party and the UK Government are fully and faithfully fulfilled as agreed, including the tabling and adoption of new legislative measures in Parliament and a final agreement on a timetable, the package of measures in its entirety provides our party with a basis to appoint members to the Northern Ireland government, allowing the restoration of locally elected institutions.”
Unionist critics of Sir Jeffrey’s move, both inside and outside the DUP, believe the Stormont boycott should not end until all economic barriers created by the Northern Ireland Brexit Protocol and subsequent Windsor Framework are taken away.
While the deal offered by the government aims to cut red tape and provide additional measures aimed at strengthening ties between Britain and NI, it will not result in the abolition of the jointly agreed protocol and framework of the EU and Great Britain.
Mr Heaton Harris praised what he described as a “welcome and important step” by the DUP.
“I am grateful to Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and his colleagues for the constructive dialogue over recent months and to the other political parties in Northern Ireland for the patience they have shown during this period,” he said.
“I am pleased that the DUP has agreed to accept the package of measures proposed by the UK Government and as a result is prepared to return to the Northern Ireland Assembly and appoint representatives to the Northern Ireland Government.
“Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said that this is subject to binding agreements between the Democratic Unionist Party and the UK Government – I can confirm that we will adhere to this agreement.
“I now believe that all conditions are in place for the return of the Assembly. The parties that have the right to form an executive branch will meet tomorrow to discuss these matters and I hope to finalize this deal with the political parties as soon as possible. ”
Sinn Fein would be considered for the post of prime minister in any restored ministerial government in Belfast.
Party leader Mary Lou McDonald said she was optimistic Stormont could return before the next legal deadline for forming a government, February 8.
“I am optimistic having heard Jeffrey Donaldson’s public statement that we will see the northern institutions operational again with a fully functioning Assembly and Executive and north-south bodies before the February 8 deadline,” she said.
“Sinn Fein will now work with the parties and both governments to ensure we all press on now without delay.
“It is vital that there is political stability to tackle the scale of the crisis in our public services.
“Now let’s focus on the task ahead and the solutions needed to support workers and families who want and deserve a functioning government.”
The DUP’s efforts to keep the details of Monday’s board meeting secret were seriously undermined when Jamie Bryson, a loyalist activist and outspoken opponent of the government deal, posted on X, formerly Twitter, what he said were live updates of the confidential briefing – messages containing details of apparent attempts to find out who leaked the information to Mr Bryson.
Sir Jeffrey told the press conference at Hinch Distillery in Ballynahinch that the package, which he said would be published by the Government in due course, secured Northern Ireland’s place in the Union and its place within the UK single market recovered.
“It will remove checks on goods moving within Great Britain and remaining in Northern Ireland and will automatically end Northern Ireland as a result of future EU laws,” he said.
“There will be legislation that provides new legal and practical protection for the Acts of Union and guarantees unfettered access for Northern Irish businesses to the rest of the United Kingdom.
“In the coming days, in addition to publishing the details of the new package of proposals, the UK government will be asked to fulfill the legal obligations it has made to us.”
Sir Jeffrey said he had also received cross-party support for the proposals at Westminster.
“Therefore, regardless of who forms the next UK government, these agreed measures will continue beyond the forthcoming general election,” he said.
“We have been clear throughout this process and made it clear that we can only take action after the government faithfully fulfills its legal and other obligations.
“The package of measures will require a significant number of actions and we look forward with confidence to their further implementation, according to an agreed timeline.
“On that basis, the Democratic Unionist Party would support the convening of a meeting of the Northern Ireland Assembly to elect the Speaker and facilitate the appointment of ministers.”
He continued: “I believe that with the faithful implementation of this package of measures, hard work and dedication, we will be able to look back on this moment as the defining moment that secured Northern Ireland’s place within the Union, and our place within the Union was secured. the United Kingdom’s internal market was restored.
“Over the coming period we will work with others to build a thriving Northern Ireland, firmly within the Union, for this and future generations.
“When our grandchildren look back on this period, they will be able to say that we had a just cause, we held the line, we restored balance and we secured a positive future for Northern Ireland and its integral place in the Union of the United States. Kingdom.”