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Northern Ireland's unionist party ends boycott, paving path to restore collapsed government
- The Democratic Unionist Party, Northern Ireland’s largest British unionist party, has agreed to end a boycott that lasted two years.
- The breakthrough follows a deadline set by the U.K. government, urging Northern Ireland politicians to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly.
- The party’s boycott, triggered by a disagreement over trade rules in Feb. 2022, left Northern Ireland without a functional administration.
Northern Ireland’s largest British unionist party has agreed to end a boycott that left the region’s people without a power-sharing administration for two years and rattled the foundations of the 25-year-old peace. The breakthrough could see the shuttered Belfast government restored within days.
After a marathon late-night meeting, Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson said Tuesday that the party’s executive had backed proposals to return to the government. He said agreements reached with the U.K. government in London “provide a basis for our party to nominate members to the Northern Ireland Executive, thus seeing the restoration of the locally elected institutions.”
The breakthrough came after the U.K. government last week gave Northern Ireland politicians until Feb. 8 to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly and executive or face new elections.
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“All the conditions are in place for the Assembly to return,” Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said. “The parties entitled to form an executive are meeting today to discuss these matters, and I hope to be able to finalize this deal with the political parties as soon as possible.”
Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson speaks to the media during a press conference at Hinch Distillery, Temple, Northern Ireland, on Jan. 30, 2024. The Unionist leader met with his executive members who have agreed to endorse a deal and restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
The DUP walked out in February 2022 in a dispute over post-Brexit trade rules. Ever since, it has refused to return to the government with the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein. Under power-sharing rules established as part of Northern Ireland’s peace process, the administration must include both British unionists and Irish nationalists.
The walkout left Northern Ireland’s 1.9 million people without a functioning administration to make key decisions as the cost of living soared and backlogs strained the creaking public health system. Amid mounting public frustration, teachers, nurses and other public sector workers staged a 24-hour strike this month calling on politicians to return to the government and give them a long-delayed pay raise.
The British government has agreed to give Northern Ireland more than 3 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) for its public services, but only if the executive in Belfast gets back up and running.
The political impasse in Northern Ireland stems from the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union and its borderless trading bloc after decades of membership. The DUP quit the government in opposition to new trade rules put in place after the U.K. left the EU in 2020 that imposed customs checks and other hurdles on goods moving to Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.
The checks were imposed to maintain an open border between the north and its EU neighbor, the Republic of Ireland, a key pillar of the peace process that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland. The DUP, though, says the new east-west customs border undermines Northern Ireland’s place in the U.K.
In February 2023, the U.K. and the EU agreed on a deal to ease customs checks and other hurdles for goods moving to Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. But it was not enough for the DUP, which continued its government boycott.
Donaldson said further measures agreed by the British government will “remove checks for goods moving within the U.K. and remaining in Northern Ireland and will end Northern Ireland automatically following future EU laws.”
The DUP’s decision faces opposition from some hard-line unionists, who fiercely guard Northern Ireland’s place in the U.K. and say even light-touch post-Brexit checks create a de facto internal trade barrier. Dozens of protesters gathered outside the DUP meeting venue outside Belfast late Monday, waving placards saying, “Stop DUP sellout.”
Details of the supposedly private five-hour meeting were live-tweeted by Jamie Bryson, editor of the Unionist Voice newsletter, who is opposed to Donaldson’s attempts at compromise.
Donaldson said last week that he had received threats over his attempts to negotiate a return to the government.
“I think my party has displayed far more courage than those who threaten or try to bully or try to misrepresent us,” he said Tuesday. “We are determined to take our place in taking Northern Ireland forward.”
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The situation has been complicated by Northern Ireland’s changing political landscape. Unionists were the largest force in the Northern Ireland Assembly from its establishment in 1998 until 2022, when Sinn Fein won the most seats in an election.
That gives the nationalist party, which seeks to take Northern Ireland out of the U.K. and unite it with the republic, the right to hold the post of first minister. The DUP would fill the post of deputy — a bitter pill for some unionists to swallow.
Sinn Fein President Mary Lou McDonald said she was optimistic the Belfast government could return before the Feb. 8 deadline.
“It is vital there is political stability to address the scale of the crisis across our public services,” she said. “Let’s now focus minds on the job at hand and to the solutions required to support workers and families who want and deserve functioning government.”
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Following tense negotiations among the 27 member states, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday pushed the signature of the contentious Mercosur agreement to January to the frustration of backers Germany and Spain.
The trade deal dominated the EU summit, with France and Italy pressing for a delay to secure stronger farmer protections, while von der Leyen had hoped to travel to Latin America for a signing ceremony on 20 December after securing member-state support.
Without approval, the ceremony can no longer go ahead. There is not set date.
“The Commission proposed that it postpones to early January the signature to further discuss with the countries who still need a bit more time,” an EU official told reporters.
After a phone call with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she supported the deal, but added that Rome still needs stronger assurances for Italian farmers. Lula said in separate comments that Meloni assured him the trade deal would be approved in the next 10 days to a month.
The Mercosur agreement would create a free-trade area between the EU and Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. But European farmers fear it would expose them to unfair competition from Latin American imports on pricing and practices.
Meloni’s decision was pivotal to delay
“The Italian government is ready to sign the agreement as soon as the necessary answers are provided to farmers. This would depend on the decisions of the European Commission and can be defined within a short timeframe,” Meloni said after speaking with Lula, who had threatened to walk away from the deal unless an agreement was found this month. He sounded more conciliatory after speaking to Meloni.
Talks among EU leaders were fraught, as backers of the deal – concluded in 2024 after 25 years of negotiations – argued the Mercosur is an imperative as the bloc needs new markets at a time in which the US, its biggest trading partner, pursues an aggressive tariff policy. Duties on European exports to the US have tripled under Donald Trump.
“This is one of the most difficult EU summits since the last negotiation of the long-term budget two years ago,” an EU diplomat said.
France began pushing last Sunday for a delay in the vote amid farmers’ anger.
Paris has long opposed the deal, demanding robust safeguards for farmers and reciprocity on environmental and health production standards with Mercosur countries.
The agreement requires a qualified majority for approval. France, Poland and Hungary oppose the signature, while Austria and Belgium planned to abstain if a vote were held this week. Ireland has also raised concerns over farmer protections.
Italy’s stance was pivotal.
However, supporters of the agreement now fear prolonged hesitation could prompt Mercosur countries to walk away after decades of negotiations for good.
After speaking with Meloni, Lula said he would pass Italy’s request on to Mercosur so that it can “decide what to do.”
An EU official said contacts with Mercosur were “ongoing,” adding: “We need to make sure that everything is accepted by them.”
Actors and other performers working in film and TV in the U.K. have voted by a landslide to refuse to be digitally scanned on set in order to secure artificial intelligence protections.
Member of performers union Equity working in film and TV voted in a ballot on AI protections, and decided by a massive majority that they are willing to take industrial action over AI. The ballot asked: “Are you prepared to refuse to be digitally scanned on set to secure adequate AI protections?,” and 99.6% of them responded “Yes.”
Equity commented: “Members are increasingly concerned about the use of their voice and likeness, including being digitally scanned on set. Equity is fighting for protections for performers based on the principles of explicit consent, transparency of terms, and fair remuneration for usage.”
The ballot turnout was 75.1%, with eligible voters made up of Equity’s membership working in film and TV – 7,732 actors, stunt performers and dancers.
The ballot was indicative, which means it is not binding and does not legally cover Equity members to take industrial action – for that, a statutory ballot is needed. However, the result shows the strength of feeling among performers about AI, and indicates they are prepared to refuse to be digitally scanned on set – a form of action short of a strike.
Equity is currently negotiating the agreements it holds with Pact, the trade body representing the majority of film and TV production companies in the U.K., to set minimum standards for pay, terms and conditions for performers working in the sector.
Equity will now write to Pact with the results and demand they come back to the negotiating table with a better deal on AI. If Pact refuses to enshrine the AI protections the union is seeking in the agreements, Equity will hold a statutory ballot for industrial action.
Equity’s general secretary, Paul W. Fleming, said: “Artificial intelligence is a generation-defining challenge. And for the first time in a generation, Equity’s film and TV members have shown that they are willing to take industrial action.
“90% of TV and film is made on these agreements. Over three quarters of artists working on them are union members. This shows that the workforce is willing to significantly disrupt production unless they are respected, and decades of erosion in terms and conditions begins to be reversed.
“The U.S. streamers and Pact need to step away from the brink, and respect this show of strength. We need adequate AI protections which build on, not merely replicate, those agreed after the SAG-AFTRA strike in the U.S.A. over two years ago.
“The union believes this can be resolved through negotiation, but 18 months of talks have led us to this stalemate. With fresh AI proposals, significant movement on royalties, and a package of modern terms and conditions, Pact and allied producers can turn this around. The ball is in their court when we return to the table in January.”
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