UK: N.Ireland power-sharing talks reach agreement

LONDON

An agreement was reached in Northern Ireland on Friday to establish a new round of power-sharing talks involving all the main political parties.

The deal was announced by British Prime Minister Theresa May and Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and follows the murder of journalist Lyra McKee in the Northern Irish city of Derry two weeks ago. McKee’s death pushed the two governments to attempt to restore a power-sharing agreement in Northern Ireland.

“We have agreed to establish a new process of political talks, involving all the main political parties in Northern Ireland, together with the U.K. and Irish Governments, in accordance with the three stranded process” Downing Street said in a statement released on Friday.

“The aim of these talks is quickly to re-establish to full operation the democratic institutions of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement - the NI Executive, Assembly and North-South Ministerial Council - so that they can effectively serve all of the people for the future,” the statement added.

The statement also acknowledged the “unmistakeable message” to all political parties that people across Northern Ireland are calling for political progress that will bring an end to the impasses and that action is needed, not words, from those in positions of leadership and power.

The Northern Ireland secretary, Karen Bradley, and the Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, are to meet at a press conference in Belfast later Friday to reveal details of the agreement. May and Varadkar also agreed that there should be a meeting of the British-Irish intergovernmental conference to discuss security cooperation and political stability in Northern Ireland as well as east/west relations.

“As Prime Minister and Taoiseach, we are determined to work together to ensure this process comes to a successful conclusion,” the two leaders said, adding: “We will review progress at the end of May.”

Shooting spurs calls for unity

On April 18, Lyra McKee was shot dead while covering riots in the tension-fueled city of Derry. During the riots, cars were set on fire and firebombs were used against security forces. The so-called New IRA claimed responsibility and apologized for the killing, saying it was a mistake.

The death of the 29-year-old generated an outpouring of grief from the public, who urged political parties to unite and use her death as a wakeup call to end political impasses. McKee’s death also brought Northern Ireland’s main parties together to condemn the violence.

The previous power-sharing agreement between the republican Sinn Fein and the unionist Democratic Unionist Party collapsed in January 2017.

Brexit and the crisis that it has developed in Westminster has fueled mass uncertainty in Northern Ireland, as many fear it would resurrect a hard border and thus a return to the conflict that engulfed the province decades ago.

The Irish border has been the main point of contention of the Brexit negotiations between London and Brussels, and May’s deal has been rejected thrice due to the backstop mechanism that would prevent customs checks but keep Northern Ireland unaligned with the rest of the U.K.

Both sides agree there should be no hard border on the island of Ireland but it has yet to be seen whether a new deal can be struck that would prevent this, something that also threatens to unravel the fragile 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

The agreement ended decades of sectarian conflict between the republican Catholics who want a united Ireland and the unionist Protestants who want to remain in the U.K.