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☆ Leader of Northern Ireland’s main pro-union party resigns after police charges
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-29 | by ( Catherine Nicholls | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Northern Ireland’s main pro-union party, is stepping down after he was charged with “allegations of an historical nature,” the DUP announced on Friday. “Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland arrested and charged a 61-year-old man for non-recent sexual offences,” the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) statement said. Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill said Friday her “priority” was to “continue to provide the leadership the public expect and deserve” following Donaldson’s resignation. Under his leadership, the DUP refused to participate in Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government in protest over post-Brexit trading rules. The DUP announced on Friday it had unanimously appointed Gavin Robinson as interim party leader.

Persons: Jeffrey Donaldson, Mr Donaldson, “, Donaldson, Michelle O’Neill, ”, O’Neill, Sinn Fein, Emma Little, ” Donaldson, Gavin Robinson Organizations: CNN, Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, Northern Ireland’s, Party, Party Officers, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Police Service of Northern, Facebook, Northern Irish, United, Ulster Unionist Party Locations: Northern, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Newry, Ireland, Northern Ireland

☆ The prospect of a united Ireland emerges as a republican leader takes office in Belfast
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - FEBRUARY 3: First Minister Michelle O'Neill speaks during proceedings of the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont on February 3, 2024 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. LONDON — A referendum on Irish reunification could be in the cards within a decade, according to Northern Ireland's first-ever nationalist first minister, who took office at the weekend. Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill was appointed as first minister on Saturday, the first Irish nationalist to hold the office since Northern Ireland was founded as a Protestant-majority state in 1921. The island to the west of England is divided in two; Northern Ireland is part of the U.K., whereas its neighbor, the Republic of Ireland, is an independent nation and a member of the European Union. The deal that secured their return includes a contribution of more than £3 billion ($3.8 billion) from the British government for Northern Ireland's public services.

Persons: Michelle O'Neill, Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill, Democratic Unionist Party's Emma Little, Pengelly, Sinn Fein Organizations: Northern Ireland Assembly, Stormont, Northern Ireland's, Irish, Democratic Unionist, DUP, European Union, Northern Locations: BELFAST, IRELAND, Belfast , Northern Ireland, Northern, Northern Ireland, England, Republic of Ireland, Republic

☆ N. Ireland Has 'Brighter Future' With Power Sharing Return, Sunak Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Amanda FergusonBELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Ireland faces a "brighter future" with the restoration of devolved government after two years of deadlock, Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on a visit to Belfast on Sunday. Sunak's government brokered a deal with the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to allow the return of power sharing by easing post-Brexit trade frictions. "In the last few days we've made significant progress towards a brighter future for people here," Sunak told broadcasters. O'Neill told Sky News on Sunday that it was a "decade of opportunity" for Northern Ireland. Under the power-sharing agreement, the post of deputy has equal power but less symbolic weight than the First Minister.

Persons: Amanda Ferguson BELFAST, Rishi Sunak, Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill, we've, Sunak, Sinn Fein, O'Neill, Emma Little, Paul Sandle, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Reuters, Britain's, Sunday, Irish, British Democratic Unionist Party, Irish Republican Army, IRA, Sky News, Belfast Good, First Locations: Northern Ireland, Belfast, British, Ireland

☆ Northern Ireland appoints Irish nationalist as First Minister in historic shift
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - FEBRUARY 3: Michelle O'Neill makes her way to the Assembly chamber before being nominated as First Minister at Stormont on February 3, 2024 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill becomes the new Northern Ireland First Minister. This appointment marks the first time a nationalist has held the post of First Minister. Britain's minister for the region, Chris Heaton-Harris, said the restoration of government represented a "great day for Northern Ireland". As the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Sinn Fein was long shunned by the political establishment on both sides of the border.

Persons: Michelle O'Neill, Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill, Charles McQuillan, Michelle O'Neill's, Sinn Fein's, O'Neill, Chris Heaton, Harris, Sinn Fein, Emma Little Organizations: Stormont, Northern Ireland First, DUP, Sinn Fein, Democratic Unionist Party, Irish Republican Army, IRA Locations: BELFAST, IRELAND, Belfast , Northern Ireland, British, Ireland, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Irish Republic

☆ Historic day in Northern Ireland as Michelle O’Neill becomes first nationalist leader
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Amy Cassidy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —In a historic moment, a nationalist politician has become First Minister of Northern Ireland as power-sharing resumed after a two-year break. But the symbolism of a Sinn Féin representative becoming first minister is still obvious and in Northern Ireland symbols matter a lot – perhaps too much. “The whole point of creating Northern Ireland a century ago was that it would always have a Protestant majority committed to staying within the United Kingdom. “It doesn’t mean that a United Ireland is an immediate prospect but it does mean that the whole future of Northern Ireland is very much an open question. The task now is to make that openness promising and full of opportunity rather than threatening and full of fear.”The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland.

Persons: Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin, ”, “, ” O’Neill, Emma Little, –, “ Michelle, Protestants –, ’, Fintan O’Toole, Michelle O’Neill’s Organizations: CNN, Irish Republican Army, IRA, Unionist, Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, Northern Ireland Assembly, Irish Republican, Protestants, Northern, Westminster Locations: Northern Ireland, Ireland, Irish, United Kingdom, United Ireland, London

LONDON (AP) — Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill is poised to make history Saturday by becoming the first Irish nationalist leader of Northern Ireland as the government returned to work after a two-year boycott by unionists. Northern Ireland was established as a unionist, Protestant-majority part of the U.K. in 1921, following independence for the Republic of Ireland. The return to government came exactly two years after a DUP boycott over a dispute about trade restrictions for goods coming into Northern Ireland from Great Britain. Northern Ireland’s 1.9 million people were left without a functioning administration as the cost of living soared and public services were strained. The new changes included legislation “affirming Northern Ireland’s constitutional status” as part of the U.K. and gives local politicians “democratic oversight” of any future EU laws that might apply to Northern Ireland.

Persons: Sinn, Michelle O'Neill, O'Neill, Brexit, ” O’Neill, Sinn Fein Organizations: Irish, Republic of Ireland, Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, Northern Ireland Assembly, Stormont Assembly, Irish Republican Army, Windsor Locations: Northern Ireland, Northern, Ireland, Republic of, Government, Stormont, Great Britain . Northern, Belfast

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government on Wednesday published the details of a deal that has broken Northern Ireland’s political deadlock and should — barring a major upset — restore the regional government in Belfast after almost two years on ice. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesThat angered Northern Ireland’s British unionists, who said the east-west customs border undermined Northern Ireland’s place in the U.K. In February 2022, the Democratic Unionist Party walked out of Northern Ireland’s government in protest. The new changes go farther, eliminating routine checks and paperwork for goods entering Northern Ireland and making legal tweaks designed to reassure unionists that Northern Ireland’s position in the U.K. is secure. The Northern Ireland Assembly then can meet to elect a speaker, followed by the nomination of a first minister and a deputy first minister.

Persons: Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein Organizations: European Union, EU, Northern Ireland, U.K, Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, Northern Ireland’s, Windsor Framework, Northern, Northern Ireland Assembly, Sinn, Irish Republican Army Locations: Belfast, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Northern, Northern Ireland’s, Ireland

☆ Northern Ireland power-sharing could resume within days, after two-year hiatus
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Eve Brennan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Sinn Féin won the most seats in the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly last year. Post-Brexit trade rules imposed customs checks on goods moving to Northern Ireland from the UK’s mainland. A deal known as the Northern Ireland Protocol was agreed to allow Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, to remain within the EU market so that it could trade goods freely across its land border with the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state. Unionists in Northern Ireland, like the DUP, are in favor of remaining in the United Kingdom, whereas nationalists, like Sinn Féin, are in favor of the unification of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. “The people of Northern Ireland are best served by a power-sharing government in Stormont as outlined in the Good Friday Agreement.

Persons: Jeffrey Donaldson, Sinn Féin, Brexit, Sinn, Donaldson, “, ”, ” What’s, Northern Ireland Chris Heaton, Harris, Heaton, ” “, Sinn Féin’s, Michelle O’Neill, Tánaiste, Micheál Martin –, Martin, Claire Cronin, Biden Organizations: CNN, Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, Sinn, Northern Ireland Assembly, Northern, Protocol, Irish, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Union, BBC Radio, Stormont, State, Government, Northern Ireland Executive, Assembly, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Executive Locations: Northern Ireland, Ireland, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Belfast, Republic of, Westminster, Northern, Stormont –, Stormont

☆ Northern Ireland's DUP head says could back new post-Brexit trade proposal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The DUP has not returned to Northern Ireland's devolved executive since February 2022, rejecting the first post-Brexit deal with the EU and then the second, so-called Windsor Framework, which is due to be introduced later this year. "We are very clear that the Windsor Framework does not meet our seven tests. The DUP has criticised the government's post-Brexit deals for the province since former Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed the so-called Northern Ireland protocol in order to secure a Brexit divorce and wider trade deal with Brussels. The government has said the Windsor Framework solves most of the post-Brexit trade problems and that it has no plans to renegotiate it. Instead it is trying to offer the DUP legal guarantees to protect post-Brexit trade with the province.

Persons: Jeffrey Donaldson, Rishi Sunak, Donaldson, We've, I've, Boris Johnson, Elizabeth Piper, Christina Fincher Organizations: Northern Ireland's, Democratic Unionist, DUP, European Union, EU, Windsor, Centre, Ireland, Windsor Framework, Thomson Locations: Northern, Britain, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Windsor, London, Brussels, Ireland

☆ UK minister says talks to restore Northern Ireland government moving slowly
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - Britain's Northern Ireland minister said on Tuesday talks to restore the province's devolved government were moving slowly because there was a lack of clarity on the right legislative approach to end the impasse. Northern Ireland's devolved executive collapsed in February last year when the Democratic Unionist Party pulled out in protest at Britain's post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union. They then also rejected a revised deal, the Windsor Framework, reached last February. The British government is in talks with the DUP on restoring the power-sharing system but Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris declined to be drawn on the details of how those talks were going. Speaking separately in Dublin, U.S. Special Envoy to Northern Ireland Joe Kennedy said that while there is real interest from U.S. companies to invest in Northern Ireland, they want to see how that Windsor Framework is implemented.

Persons: Chris Heaton, Harris, Northern Ireland Joe Kennedy, Kennedy, Alistair Smout, Padraic Halpin, Jonathan Oatis, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Northern, Democratic Unionist Party, European Union, DUP, Heaton, Good, Northern Ireland, Windsor, Thomson Locations: Northern Ireland, Northern, Windsor, London . London, United Kingdom, Dublin, U.S, British, Ireland, Stormont, London

☆ Sinn Fein sweep past unionist rivals again in Northern Ireland local elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Amanda Ferguson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BELFAST, May 20 (Reuters) - Irish nationalists Sinn Fein followed up last year's historic Northern Ireland Assembly victory by overtaking their unionist rivals by a wide margin in council elections on Saturday to become the biggest party at local level for the first time. It is the latest political milestone for the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who want to leave the United Kingdom and form a united Ireland. The left-wing party also comfortably leads opinion polls in the Republic of Ireland ahead of national elections due in 2025. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), until last year the biggest party at local and regional level, had 118. The poll also marked the first time a Black person was elected to office in Northern Ireland, with Maasai woman Lilian Seenoi-Bar winning a seat for the nationalist SDLP.

☆ Britain hands Northern Ireland 'difficult decisions' in budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via REUTERSLONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Britain set out a budget for Northern Ireland on Thursday that gave the region two years to repay an overspend from the last 12 months but warned "difficult decisions" will be needed with funding set to remain flat year-on-year. Northern Ireland has been without a power-sharing government for over a year due to a dispute about post-Brexit trade rules, leaving Britain's minister for the region to set a budget and civil servants to make the subsequent spending decisions. "This will provide some protection to front line public services in Northern Ireland from having to take the most severe reductions. However, difficult decisions remain in order to live within the funding available," he said in a statement. "Any idea that putting in a punishing budget to Northern Ireland is going to bully the DUP to get back sooner is for the birds, absolute nonsense," DUP lawmaker Emma Little-Pengelly told national broadcaster RTE.

☆ British, Irish PMs open to Good Friday Agreement reforms when time right
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Amanda Ferguson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Clodagh KilcoyneBELFAST, April 19 (Reuters) - The Irish and British prime ministers said on Wednesday that they were open to considering reforming Northern Ireland's Good Friday peace accord, but that any debate could only happen when the powersharing government underpinning it was restored. That, coupled with the rise of the Alliance party, which identifies as neither nationalist or unionist, has sparked calls for an overhaul of a political architecture that the largest unionist party, the DUP, has boycotted for more than a year. "I think it's the shared view of the British and Irish government that there is a conversation that needs to happen about reforming the Good Friday Agreement. No agreement should be set in stone forever," Varadkar told reporters after an event to mark 25 years of the peace accord. "I urge you to work with us to get Stormont (Northern Ireland's assembly) up and running again," Sunak told unionist politicians.

Ambassador to the United Kingdom Jane Hartley greet U.S. President Joe Biden next to Joe Kennedy upon Biden's arrival at RAF Aldergrove airbase in County Antrim, Northern Ireland April 11, 2023. Ahern said he knew from experience that "knocking heads together" did not usually work in Northern Ireland and that Biden should point out the obvious case that, in any democracy, institutions of parliament were essential. Biden will travel later on Wednesday to County Louth - midway between Belfast and Dublin - where his great-grandfather was born. Biden will meet relatives from another side of his family in the western county of Mayo on Friday. Writing by Padraic Halpin; Additional reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Peter Graff and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden heads to Northern Ireland at delicate political juncture
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Conor Humphries | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

BELFAST, April 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden arrives in Belfast on Tuesday at a delicate political time in Northern Ireland as he helps mark the 25-year anniversary of a peace deal that largely ended 30 years of bloodshed there. Biden was expected to meet representatives from five Northern Irish parties in advance of his speech at Ulster University but was not planning to pressure them, a senior administration official said. Biden, who will float the possibility of closer investment ties between the U.S. and Northern Ireland to try to encourage an end to the impasse, clashed with the British government at times during the Brexit talks, drawing a rebuke from the DUP. Britain's MI5 intelligence agency recently increased the threat level in Northern Ireland from domestic terrorism to "severe" - meaning an attack is highly likely. "Since (Jonh F.) Kennedy there hasn't been as Irish American a president as Joe Biden and we're really looking forward to welcoming him home," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Sunday.

☆ 'Unfinished business': Biden visits Northern Ireland as political tensions persist
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

He will give a speech in Northern Ireland on Wednesday, before traveling south of the border to the Republic of Ireland, where he will remain until Friday. Northern Ireland is part of the U.K. while the Republic of Ireland is a separate nation state that remains part of the EU. "Whilst it's positive in many ways — particularly on movement of food and medicines between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, it really removes a lot of the frictions — it doesn't deal with all the problems of the Northern Ireland protocol, so I'm afraid it's unfinished business," Villiers told CNBC's Tania Bryer. Clinton became the first sitting U.S. President to visit Northern Ireland and the first to appoint a U.S. special regional envoy. Though Biden is expected to use the trip to promote a return to functioning government in Stormont, his previous support for the Northern Ireland Protocol has drawn criticism from DUP politicians.

☆ Irish PM seeks to restore Northern Ireland power-sharing within months
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBLIN, April 9 (Reuters) - Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar pledged on Sunday to intensify efforts with his British counterpart Rishi Sunak to restore power-sharing government in Northern Ireland and hopes to break the deadlock there in the next few months. London has said it will not renegotiate any part of its the new agreement. The latest suspension of the assembly is casting a shadow over Monday's 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. U.S. President Joe Biden will visit Northern Ireland on Tuesday to mark the peace accord that ended three decades of bloodshed. Power-sharing has collapsed a number of times for different reasons since its introduction as part of the peace deal, each time being restored after long political talks.

[1/3] Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) embraces Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern after all parties reached a historic peace agreement April 10, 1998. The peace has utterly transformed the region, largely ending three decades of bitter violence that killed 3,600. "Nothing's ever irresolvable" said Blair, summing up the stubborn optimism many developed working in Northern Ireland at the turn of the millennium. Nationalists, who are mostly Catholic, say Northern Ireland was wrenched from the EU in a UK-wide vote even though its smallest region voted 56% to 44% to remain. "There is an exhaustion and frustration," at the DUP's repeated objections, said Ahern, Irish prime minister from 1997-2008.

☆ Northern Ireland's Orange Order says new Brexit deal needs improvement
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

However, it does not resolve the fundamental concerns," the Orange Order said in a statement on Tuesday. The Windsor Framework continues to treat Northern Ireland as a place apart within the United Kingdom and equal citizenship has not been restored." The statement said the Orange Order would not endorse the deal without "substantial and tangible progress which resolves these fundamental issues". As part of Brexit, Northern Ireland effectively remained in the bloc's single market to avoid a hard border with EU-member Ireland. Business groups have overwhelmingly supported the Windsor Framework, seeing it as removing damaging uncertainties over trading relationships.

☆ At what cost? UK PM Sunak to win post-Brexit trade vote in parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Sunak has sought to end years of wrangling over Brexit by revisiting one of the trickiest parts of the negotiations - to ensure smooth trade to Northern Ireland without creating a so-called hard border with Britain or the European Union. He agreed with the EU to introduce the "Stormont brake", aimed at offering Northern Ireland more control over whether to accept any new EU laws, as part of the so-called Windsor Framework of measures to soothe post-Brexit tensions. But in Wednesday's vote in the lower house of parliament, those he most wanted to win over - Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and some Conservative eurosceptics in the European Research Group (ERG) - are set to rebel. The brake enables Britain to prevent new EU laws applying to goods in Northern Ireland if asked to do so by a third of lawmakers in the province's devolved legislature. The DUP has for a year boycotted Northern Ireland's power-sharing government over its opposition to the post-Brexit trade rules, which effectively leaves the province in the EU's single market for goods and means it has to follow some of the bloc's rules.

☆ Despite opposition, UK's Sunak wins post-Brexit trade vote in parliament
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak won the backing of parliament on Wednesday for a key element of a reworked post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland. Despite the opposition, Sunak won the vote by 515 to 29, suggesting that several in his Conservative Party had abstained on the vote. "The Stormont brake is at the heart of the (Windsor) Framework," Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris told parliament ahead of the vote. "It restores practical sovereignty for the United Kingdom as a whole and the people of northern Ireland in particular." Johnson, the face of the campaign to leave the EU, and his successor, Truss, both said they would vote against the brake.

Sunak has tried to end years of wrangling over Brexit by revisiting one of the trickiest parts of the negotiations - to ensure smooth trade to Northern Ireland without creating a hard border with Britain or with European Union-member Ireland. "I welcome parliament voting today to support the Windsor Framework," Britain's Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris said on Twitter. "This measure lies at the very heart of the Windsor Framework which offers the best deal for Northern Ireland, safeguarding its place in the Union and addressing the democratic deficit." Sunak hailed securing the deal last month as a "decisive breakthrough" but by alienating the DUP he has failed in restoring the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson told parliament his party could not return to Northern Ireland's power-sharing government "at this stage".

☆ Northern Ireland Impasse to Persist After Unionist Party Rejects Brexit Compromise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Max Colchester | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON—Efforts by the British government to end political paralysis in Northern Ireland suffered a blow on Monday after the Democratic Unionist Party said it would reject a compromise agreement recently hammered out by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the European Union over the region’s trading status. The so-called Windsor Framework is aimed at appeasing the DUP and other unionist communities in Northern Ireland who felt cut off from the rest of Britain after the country agreed as part of its 2019 Brexit divorce deal to place a border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K., rather than a border between the province and Ireland, which remains an EU member.

☆ Northern Ireland's DUP hardens position against new Brexit deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Amanda Ferguson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A key test of the deal reached by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with Brussels last month is its ability to convince the DUP to end a year-long boycott of Northern Ireland's power-sharing government over the original post-Brexit trade rules. As well as leaving Northern Ireland without a functioning executive, failure to win over the DUP could trigger a rebellion within Sunak's Conservative Party and dash his hopes of presenting the deal as a major diplomatic success. U.S. President Joe Biden has accepted an invitation to visit Northern Ireland to mark the anniversary in April. Clear protection "in UK law" was also needed to protect Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom's internal market, he said. Sunak's government has not set out in detail how it intends to implement the deal, known as the Windsor Framework, in law.

☆ Only 16% of DUP voters back British PM's Northern Ireland deal - poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBLIN, March 11 (Reuters) - Only 16% of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party voters would back British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's recent deal with the European Union on post-Brexit trade rules if a referendum were held, a poll showed on Saturday. The survey by polling company LucidTalk for the Belfast Telegraph newspaper found that just 38% of the region's wider unionist electorate would vote in favour of the Windsor Framework agreement if a referendum were held. While 73% of DUP voters and 50% of unionist voters would oppose the deal, 67% of all voters in the region were in favour thanks to strong support among nationalists, the poll showed. Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom, while nationalists favour a united Ireland. Reporting by Conor Humphries and Amanda Ferguson Editing by Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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