Parliament buildings in the Stormont district of Belfast: No agreement on a government.
(Photo: dpa)
London New elections are expected to take place in Northern Ireland in mid-December. As the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) continues to refuse to form a government in Belfast, the regional parliament is dissolved. The British government had given the Northern Irish parties until Friday to find a solution to the government crisis that has been going on since May.
In the regional elections in May, the nationalist party Sinn Féin became the strongest political force in Northern Ireland for the first time, beating the London-loyal DUP to second place. According to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, the strongest party provides the “First Minister”, i.e. the head of government.
However, since the peace agreement that ended the civil war in Northern Ireland required the consent of both population groups to form a government, the Unionists were able to block the process.
“Northern Ireland’s communities have not been able to agree on the formation of an executive, so there will be elections,” Environment Secretary Therese Coffey told the BBC on Friday morning. While Sinn Féin blamed the Unionists for the failure, DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson pointed the finger at London. Westminster failed to reverse the controversial Northern Ireland protocol of the Brexit deal. The chaos of the past six months in Westminister also contributed to this.
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Northern Ireland Minister Chris Heaton-Harris tweeted “extremely disappointed” at the failure to form a government and wanted to announce the timetable for new elections on Friday.
The background to the dispute is the tug of war between London and Brussels over future trade relations between the Northern Irish province and the rest of Great Britain. The so-called Northern Ireland Protocol stipulates that the province remains subject to the rules of the EU internal market in order to avoid a “hard” customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
High EU tariff on UK steel
The latter would be politically sensitive, as such a border could reignite conflicts between Protestants and Catholics, jeopardizing the 1998 Good Friday peace accord. The result of the Northern Ireland Protocol is that a customs border now runs right through the Irish Sea, which London says creates barriers to trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain and puts the Northern Irish at a disadvantage.
As an example of the shortcomings of the Northern Ireland Protocol, DUP leader Donaldson cited the fact that British steel suppliers would have to pay an EU tariff of 25 percent if they wanted to supply certain building materials to Northern Ireland. “It damages our economy,” criticized the unionist.
The reason for the unusual tariffs is that quotas for global steel imports into the EU have been exhausted. In addition to economic disadvantages, however, the unionists also fear that they will lose touch with Great Britain and that Northern Ireland is heading towards reunification with the republic in the south.
Agreement between London and Brussels not yet in sight
Brussels insists on compliance with internal market rules in Northern Ireland in order not to lose control of its customs border. To address British concerns, the EU has already significantly relaxed the requirements for customs controls between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But that’s not enough for London. Although the two conservative MPs Steve Baker and Simon Hoare consider a “solution to be within reach”, an agreement is not yet in sight.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed to the arrangement during the exit negotiations with Brussels, but the conservative government in Westminster still wants to unilaterally terminate the Northern Ireland Protocol if necessary. Former Foreign Secretary and later Prime Minister Liz Truss introduced a law in the spring that would allow British ministers to suspend certain parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to stick to the threat. Should Brussels and London not settle their dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol, new elections would not solve the impasse in Belfast.
More: New elections in Northern Ireland can hardly be prevented