DUP agrees deal with UK government to restore power-sharing to Northern Ireland

Published

2 years ago

January 30, 2024

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The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has agreed a deal restore power sharing to Northern Ireland, subject to legislation by the UK government.

The party collapsed the power-sharing government nearly two years ago in protest against post-Brexit trade arrangements that have created trade barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says his party will restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland, subject to the UK government tabling and passing new legislative measures as agreed in negotiations.

He said the package of measures, once delivered, would provide the basis for the return of devolved government.

Sir Jeffrey said he believed the deal would safeguard Northern Ireland’s place within the UK and crucially from the DUP’s point of view, would remove checks on goods moving within the UK and remaining in Northern Ireland.

Analysis: Protests outside and leaks from inside but the deal to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland is done

What is power sharing and why is the system used?

But he warned that the DUP would only be able to move after the UK government delivers on implementing the agreement.

“Both our party officers and party executive have mandated me to move forward… on the basis of the proposals brought forward by the government, subject to and on the basis of the government delivering measures of that package,” he said.

Sir Jeffrey described the vote as “decisive” and, although the specific details of the deal have yet to be published, he said he was “confident” in the progress that had been achieved.

He also said that he believed the government could move “quickly” to bring forward legislation to implement what had been agreed.

Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein leader, said she was “optimistic” having heard the news from Sir Jeffrey.

“Sinn Féin will now engage with the parties and both governments to ensure we now all press on without delay,” she said.

“It is vital there is political stability to address the scale of the crisis across our public services.

“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.”

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris welcomed the step and made clear the Government would deliver on its end of the deal.

Northern Ireland has a different type of governance from the rest of the UK in response to decades of conflict within the country.

The country operates under a power-sharing model devised as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

Unlike an agreed coalition, where at least two parties agree to govern together to form a government (like Britain’s Conservative-Lib Dem coalition from 2010-15), it is mandatory for Northern Ireland‘s political parties to share power.

There must be representatives from both nationalist parties, who want Irish unity, and unionists, who want Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK.

The Northern Ireland Executive is made up of the first and deputy first ministers and their cabinet.

One of the top jobs at Stormont must be unionist and one nationalist, with equal powers, and one cannot be in position without the other.

With Sinn Fein now the biggest party, they will chose the first minister while the DUP will pick the deputy first minister.

Certain decisions require cross-community support, including the election of the speaker and deputy speakers, and budget allocations.

When the parliament finally convenes again electing a new speaker will be the first order of business as it cannot sit without one.

UK

Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage are polar opposites in politics, but have one thing in common

Published

2 hours ago

October 23, 2025

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Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage are polar opposites in politics, but have one thing in common

Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage might be polar opposites when it comes to politics – but they do have one thing in common.

The pair are both cutting through in a changing media landscape when attention is scarce and trust in mainstream politics is scarcer still.

For Farage, the Reform UK leader, momentum has been building since he won a seat at the general election last year and he continues to top the polls.

But in the six weeks since Polanski became leader of the Greens, membership has doubled, they’ve polled higher than ever before while three Labour councillors have defected. Has the insurgent firebrand finally met his match?

“I’m sure I don’t need to say this, but I despise Nigel Farage’s politics and disagree with him on almost everything,” Polanski tells Sky News.

“But I think his storytelling has undoubtedly cut through and so yes there has been a huge part of us saying ‘If Farage can do that with a politics of hate and division, then it’s time for the Green Party to do that with a politics of hope and community’ and that’s absolutely what I intend to keep doing.”

Polanski was speaking after a news conference to announce the defections of the councillors in Swindon – a bellwether area that is currently led by a Labour council and has two Labour MPs, but was previously controlled by the Tories.

It is the sort of story the party would previously have announced in a press release, but the self-described “eco populist” is determined to do things differently to grab attention.

He has done media interviews daily over the past few weeks, launched his own podcast and turbocharged the Greens social media content – producing slick viral videos such as his visit to Handsworth (the Birmingham neighbourhood where Robert Jenrick claimed he saw no white people).

Polanski insists that it is not increased exposure in and of itself that is attracting people to his party but his messaging – he wants to “make hope normal again”.

“I’m not going to be in a wetsuit or be parachuting from a helicopter”, he says in a swipe at Lib Dem leader Ed Davey.

“I think you only need to do stunts if you don’t have something really clear to say and then you need to grab attention.

“I think when you look at the challenges facing this country right now if you talk about taxing wealth and not work, if you talk about the mass inequality in our society and you talk about your solidarity with people living in poverty, with working-class communities, I think these are the things that people both want to hear, but also they want to know our solutions. The good news is I’ve got loads of solutions and the party has loads of solutions. “

Some of those solutions have come under criticism – Reform UK have attacked his policy to legalise drugs and abolish private landlords.

Polanski is confident he can win the fight. He says it helps that he talks “quite quickly because it means that I’m able to be bold but also have nuance”. And he is a London Assembly member not an MP, so he has time to be the party’s cheerleader rather than being bogged down with case work.

As for what’s next, the 42-year-old has alluded to conversations with Labour MPs about defections. He has not revealed who they are but today gave an idea of who he would welcome – naming Starmer critic Richard Burgon.

Like Burgon, Polanski believes Starmer “will be gone by May” and that the local elections for Labour “will be disastrous”.

He wants to replace Labour “right across England and Wales” when voters go to the polls, something Reform UK has also vowed to do.

Could the Greens be kingmakers?

Luke Tryl, director of More in Common, says this reflects a “new axis of competition” as frontline British politics shifts from a battle of left vs right to a battle of process vs anti-establishment.

Farage has been the beneficiary of this battle so far but Tryl says Polanski is “coming up in focus groups” in a way his predecessors didn’t. “He is cutting through”, the pollster says.

However, one big challenge Polanski faces is whether his rise will cause the left vote to fragment and make it easier for Farage to win – something he has said he wants to avoid at all costs.

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And yet, asked if he would form a coalition with Labour to keep Farage out of power in the event of a hung parliament, he suggested he would only do so if Sir Keir Starmer is no longer prime minister.

“I have issues with Keir Starmer as prime minister,” he says. “I think he had the trust of the public, but I would say that’s been broken over and over again. If we had a different Labour prime minister that would be a different conversation about where their values are.”

He adds: “I do think stopping Nigel Farage has to be a huge mission for any progressive in this country, but the biggest way we can stop Nigel Farage is by people joining the Green Party right now; creating a real alternative to this Labour government, where we say we don’t have to compromise on our values.

“If people wanted to vote for Nigel Farage, they’d vote for Nigel Farage. What does Keir Starmer think he’s doing by offering politics that are similar but watered down? That’s not going to appeal to anyone, and I think that’s why they’re sinking in the polls.”

UK

Paratrooper known as ‘Soldier F’ not guilty of Bloody Sunday murders

Published

3 hours ago

October 23, 2025

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Paratrooper known as 'Soldier F' not guilty of Bloody Sunday murders

A former paratrooper accused of murdering two civilians in the Bloody Sunday shootings in Northern Ireland 53 years ago has been found not guilty.

Soldier F – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – was accused of killing James Wray and William McKinney during disorder after a civil rights parade on 30 January 1972 in Londonderry, also known as Derry.

The veteran was also found not guilty of five attempted murders at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday.

He had denied all seven charges.

Thirteen people were shot dead by the Parachute Regiment on the day in question.

Soldier F did not give evidence, but the court heard about previous statements from two paratroopers – known as G and H – who were in Glenfada Park North along with F.

The prosecution said their testimony was direct evidence that the defendant had opened fire in the area.

However, the defence argued that they were unreliable witnesses as their statements were inconsistent with each other and with other witnesses who gave evidence.

The trial was held in Belfast in front of a judge, not a jury.

Delivering his judgment, Judge Patrick Lynch said the evidence presented against the veteran fell well short of what was needed for conviction.

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