British and Irish leaders visit Belfast to meet Northern Ireland’s newly restored government
LONDON — The leaders of Britain and Ireland traveled to Belfast on Monday to meet Northern Ireland’s newly revived government, basking in a moment of good news after two years of political crisis.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar visited the new government at Stormont Castle in Belfast, where ministers met for the first time. Ministers wasted no time in calling for additional funding from London to repair Northern Ireland’s cracked public services.
Northern Ireland MPs on Saturday appointed a power-sharing government after a two-year gap following the departure of Britain’s main union party in February 2022.
The Democratic Unionist Party boycotted the government, protesting the post-Brexit trade deal, which it said would undermine Northern Ireland’s status in the UK. The party was persuaded to return last week after Britain promised to scrap most checks on goods shipped to Northern Ireland from other parts of the UK.
Under power-sharing rules established as part of the Northern Ireland peace process, the government in Belfast must include both British trade unionists and Irish nationalists. The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland both serve as guarantors of peace.
The new government will be led by Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill of the Sinn Féin party. Sinn Féin is a party that allied with the Irish Republican Army during the decades of violence in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. Her appointment is historic, marking the first time that the post has been held by an Irish nationalist who aspires to expel Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and unite it with the Republic.
In reality, nationalists and trade unionists will continue to govern in a precarious balance. The post of deputy prime minister, held by the DUP’s Emma Little-Pengery, is officially the equivalent of a first minister, with neither able to govern without the other.
Mr O’Neill said over the weekend that he believed a referendum on Irish unity could be held within the next 10 years, but the British government said such a move was decades away. Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, such a vote could take place if there is evidence that a majority of Northern Ireland’s citizens support joining the republic. Opinion polls now show a majority oppose the idea.
Mr Sunak said on Monday that “everyone’s priority” was to get the government back up and running.
“This is not a constitutional amendment, this is about implementing everyday things that are important to people,” he said.
Mr Varadkar, whose government supports a united Ireland in principle, said the issue of unification was “not about today”.
The DUP’s boycott has left Northern Ireland’s 1.9 million people without a functioning government to make important decisions at a time when living costs are rising and unpaid bills strain a strained public health system.
The British government has agreed to give Northern Ireland more than 3 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) as part of a government rebuilding incentive. The Belfast government has already insisted that this is not enough.
Mr Little Pengelly said ministers in Belfast were “committed to ensuring that the UK Government provides sufficient funding in the package to deliver on its public sector pay commitments”.
Chris Heaton-Harris, UK’s Northern Ireland minister, said the measures were “sufficient for the time being”.
He told the BBC: “I believe the new ministers will be able to manage the public finances perfectly well with the fair and generous funding policy that we have given them.”