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☆ 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

☆ 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

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

☆ 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

☆ ‘A Long Time Coming’: Northern Ireland Deal Receives Broad Welcome
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Stephen Castle | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Britain, Ireland and the United States on Tuesday welcomed a deal to end almost two years of political deadlock in Northern Ireland that will, for the first time, hand the territory’s top leadership role to Sinn Fein, a party that mainly represents Roman Catholic voters committed to a united Ireland. The breakthrough came in the early hours of Tuesday morning when the Democratic Unionist Party, whose largely Protestant supporters want to remain in the United Kingdom, said it was ready to end a lengthy and crippling boycott of Northern Ireland’s political assembly. “I believe that all the conditions are now in place for the assembly to return,” said Chris Heaton-Harris, Britain’s secretary of state for Northern Ireland on Tuesday. Claire Cronin, the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, said she welcomed the news. “The people of Northern Ireland are best served by a power-sharing government in Stormont as outlined in the Good Friday Agreement,” she wrote on social media, adding that President Biden “has long made clear his support for a secure and prosperous Northern Ireland.”

Persons: Sinn Fein, ”, Chris Heaton, Harris, Claire Cronin, Biden “ Organizations: Roman Catholic, Democratic Unionist Party, Northern Ireland Locations: Britain, Ireland, United States, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Northern, U.S, Stormont

☆ Northern Ireland police confident militants have officers' data
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A police officer stands guard on the steps of Stormont Parliament in Belfast, Northern Ireland, January 16, 2017. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File PhotoBELFAST, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Northern Irish police are confident that militant groups are in possession of details of officers it accidentally shared publicly last week, the region's police chief said on Monday. The accidental data leak is hugely sensitive in Northern Ireland, where officers are still sporadically targeted by dissident groups in bomb and gun attacks, despite a 1998 peace deal largely ending three decades of sectarian violence. "We are now confident that the workforce dataset is in the hands of dissident republicans," Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Simon Byrne told a news conference. He added that he was confident the UK government stood ready to provide additional funding for protecting its workforce or staff if needed.

Persons: Clodagh, Constable Simon Byrne, Sinn, Gerry Kelly, Byrne, Amanda Ferguson, Padraic Halpin, Alistair Smout Organizations: REUTERS, Northern Irish, " Police Service of Northern, Irish, Thomson Locations: Belfast , Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland, " Police Service of Northern Ireland, Belfast

☆ 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

☆ 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.

☆ Biden plans to focus heavily on the economy in Belfast speech marking Good Friday Agreement anniversary
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Kevin Liptak | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Biden’s optimistic speech did not paper over tensions that persist 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed. “It doesn’t change the political dynamic in Northern Ireland,” said Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, which withdrew from the government in dispute of Brexit trade rules. Ahead of the speech, Biden sat for brief talks over coffee with Sunak, though won’t participate in any major public events with him while he’s here. That includes the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party Arlene Foster, who previously served as the first minister of Northern Ireland. The region along the border with Northern Ireland was where Biden’s great-great-great-grandfather, Owen Finnegan, was born in 1818.

☆ '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.

☆ Northern Ireland's 'peace babies' desperate for more progress
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Amanda Ferguson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Born in December 1998, Moore is one of Northern Ireland's so-called "peace babies", the generation born just after the Good Friday Agreement was signed and considered the embodiment of hope for the region's post-conflict future. said Moore, a social policy and communications worker from Derry, referring to the barriers besieged residents erected to protect themselves. Stormont (the Northern Irish assembly) not being up and running is ridiculous," said Jessica Keough from Bangor, County Down, who is from a unionist background but sees herself as Irish and Northern Irish, "and not British at all." More than 90% of schools in Northern Ireland remain segregated along religious lines, as is housing in many areas. "There is something special about being a peace baby so people born around (that time) feel protective about the peace and the Good Friday Agreement."

☆ The long road to Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Jason Cairnduff/File PhotoApril 3 (Reuters) - On April 10, Northern Ireland marks the 25th anniversary since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, which largely ended three decades of conflict in the British-ruled province. The new Northern Ireland parliament, at Stormont outside Belfast, is dominated by pro-British Protestant "unionists", who will control it for the next 50 years. Nov. 30, 1995 - U.S. President Bill Clinton visits Northern Ireland. May 30, 1996 - Elections held for a Northern Ireland forum ahead of all-party talks. April 10, 1998 - After negotiations continue through the night, the Good Friday Agreement, also known as the Belfast Agreement, is signed.

☆ 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's DUP: New deal does give Stormont ability to apply brake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The leader of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said a new provision to stop new European Union trade rules from applying to goods in Northern Ireland did appear to give its Stormont regional assembly the ability to apply a brake. "I do think that what has been proposed at first reading does give Stormont the ability to apply the brake where the application of EU law for the purposes of facilitating cross-border trade impacts on our ability to trade with the rest of the United Kingdom," Jeffrey Donaldson told BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday. We continue to have some concerns," he said of the new post-Brexit deal struck between Britain and the EU on Monday. The Stormont brake, unveiled as part of the deal, enables the British government to stop new EU laws from applying to goods in Northern Ireland if requested by a third of lawmakers in Stormont, the British province's regional assembly. Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar, Editing by Kylie MacLellanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brexit deal hailed as 'turning point' for Northern Ireland, but could still face opposition in Belfast
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WINDSOR, U.K., Feb. 27, 2023: Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (L) and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced a landmark post-Brexit trading arrangement seeking to rectify problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol. Dan Kitwood/AFP via Getty ImagesLONDON — The new Brexit deal signed by the U.K. and the European Union on Monday was heralded as a "turning point" for Northern Ireland, but must still pass muster in Belfast. The sticking point could come from across the Irish Sea in Stormont, near Belfast, where the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly has been suspended for a year after the pro-Brexit Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) resigned in protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol. "There can be no disguising the fact that, in some sectors of our economy, EU law remains applicable in Northern Ireland." BELFAST, U.K., Feb. 17, 2023: DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson speaks to reporters outside the Culloden Hotel in Belfast after Northern Irish leaders held talks with U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

☆ Factbox: UK says 'Stormont Brake' gives UK unequivocal veto over some EU laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Padraic Halpin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In a British government document setting out details of the deal, London said the mechanism gives it an "unequivocal veto" on EU rules when 30 members of Northern Ireland's devolved government from two or more parties object. "Once the UK notifies the EU that the brake has been triggered, the rule in question is suspended automatically from coming into effect," the document published on the British government website said. "This would give the UK an unequivocal veto - enabling the rule to be permanently disapplied - within the Joint Committee." If the UK accepts these conditions have been met, it would commence intensive consultations at the joint committee. This would be because of a divergence in trade rules between Northern Ireland and Ireland - and thus the broader EU, London noted.

☆ Explainer: What is the Good Friday Agreement and when was it signed?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Feb 23 (Reuters) - The Good Friday Agreement largely ended the "Troubles", three decades of violence that had racked Northern Ireland since the late 1960s. It was signed on April 10, 1998 - which fell that year on Good Friday in the Christian Easter holiday. The deal was formally two interlinked agreements: a treaty between the British and Irish governments and an agreement between the Northern Irish parties. "North-south" bodies were created to encourage cooperation between Northern Ireland and Ireland, while "east-west" institutions linked Britain and Ireland. Overall, Northern Ireland has enjoyed peace for much of the 25 years since the agreement was signed, with only a small number of splinter groups involved in sporadic attacks.

☆ UK and EU reach post-Brexit customs deal for N.Ireland-The Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A 'no entry' sign is seen near the Stormont Parliament Buildings in Belfast, Northern Ireland June 13, 2022. The EU has accepted a plan that would avoid the need for routine checks on products going into Northern Ireland, the newspaper reported on Tuesday. Both sides were also hammering out details of a veterinary checks deal, The Times said. A UK government spokesperson said its priority is to protect the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and to preserve political stability in Northern Ireland and the UK internal market. After months of tensions between London, Brussels, Belfast and Dublin, progress has recently been made in the dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

☆ Irish premier hopeful of post-Brexit trade talk breakthrough — but ‘we’re not there yet’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar talking to the media outside the Stormont hotel on Jan. 12. Irish premier Leo Varadkar on Thursday said there has yet to be a breakthrough over Northern Ireland's post-Brexit trade rules, but expressed hopes that an agreement is within reach. I am hopeful that we will get there," Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Varadkar told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "I think certainly Prime Minister [Rishi] Sunak and the British government seem to be very serious about coming to an agreement and settling this issue. And I think there is increased flexibility from the European Union side, which includes Ireland, around coming to an agreement."

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