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☆ 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

☆ ‘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 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

☆ 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

☆ Northern Irish police charge seven men in detective shooting case
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BELFAST, May 27 (Reuters) - Seven men have been charged with the attempted murder of senior Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) detective John Caldwell, according to a police statement. Two men aged 28, and five men aged 33, 38, 45, 47 and 72, have been charged with attempted murder. I would like to thank the PSNI for their efforts and the progress they have made in the case," Britain's Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris said on Twitter. All seven men are expected to appear before Dungannon Magistrates Court on Monday. Three of the men, aged 28, 33 and 47, have also been charged with preparation of terrorist acts.

☆ 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.

☆ Britain raises domestic threat level for Northern Ireland to 'severe'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 28: British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street on March 28, 2023 in London. Britain's MI5 intelligence agency has increased the threat level from domestic terrorism to Northern Ireland to "severe" - meaning an attack is highly likely, Britain said on Tuesday. "The public should remain vigilant, but not be alarmed, and continue to report any concerns they have to the Police Service of Northern Ireland," he said. The change comes roughly a year after Britain lowered the threat level for the province to "substantial" for the first time in more than a decade. It also comes ahead of next month's 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement peace deal that largely ended the "Troubles," three decades of violence that had convulsed Northern Ireland since the late 1960s.

☆ 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".

☆ Britain to stop those arriving illegally from staying
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) - Anyone arriving illegally in Britain will be prevented from staying, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in an interview published on Sunday, ahead of new legislation which is expected to be set out next week. Under pressure from his own lawmakers to find a solution to the flow of migrants arriving in Britain across the channel from Europe, Sunak has made stopping small boats one of his five key priorities. "Make no mistake, if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay," Sunak told the Mail on Sunday newspaper. Under current practice, asylum seekers who reach Britain are often able to remain in the country to have their case heard. Asked on Sky News whether those arriving in Britain illegally would be banned from claiming asylum, government minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: "I believe so, yes."

☆ Seeking Northern Ireland solution, UK foreign minister hosts EU talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - British foreign minister James Cleverly will on Monday seek to inject fresh momentum into talks with the EU on resolving disputes over a post-Brexit trade relationship when he hosts the European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in London. Technical talks between officials resumed in October on the Northern Ireland Protocol, the part of the Brexit deal that mandated checks on some goods moving to the province from the rest of the United Kingdom. The talks will take place at Lancaster House and the Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris is expected to take part, according to the UK foreign ministry. The Northern Ireland protocol was a key part of the Brexit deal agreed by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but one that successive UK prime ministers have refused to implement. In order to preserve the peace deal and avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, Britain agreed as part of its departure from the EU to effectively leave Northern Ireland within the bloc's single market for goods.

☆ Elon Musk to UK minister: 'What does a tosh look like?'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Britain's Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris had called on Musk to act on fake news after he took to Twitter to dismiss false reports that he was resigning his government post. "I hope one of @elonmusk first moves is to eliminate fake news on Twitter ... Very exciting I know, but complete and utter tosh," he added. His appeal to the world's richest person elicited a surprising response from Musk, who asked: "What does a tosh look like?" Some of the thousands who viewed the exchange suggested Musk was joking, while others were keen to provide him with an explanation.

☆ Boris Johnson will run for UK leadership and has the numbers needed, minister says
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Boris Johnson will enter the race to replace Liz Truss as British prime minister, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris told Sky News on Sunday, saying the former leader had enough support from lawmakers to pass the 100-vote threshold. Asked if Johnson would run, Heaton Harris said: "Yes, I think so." "We do have the numbers... that's not an issue." Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Paul Sandle, Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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