Northern Ireland power-sharing Executive deadline extended

LONDON

The deadline to form a new devolved government in Northern Ireland will be extended until Jan. 8, the British secretary responsible for the region said Wednesday.

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris added in a statement at the House of Commons that the new deadline could be extended for another six weeks if no new government can be formed by that new deadline.

Heaton-Harris said he met with politicians and businesses in Northern Ireland since the Oct. 28 deadline passed, adding that none was in favor of a new election as it would not change anything.

"I think it would be fair to say … that the vast majority of those I have spoken to think that an election at this time would be unwelcome," he said.

Last week he confirmed that there would be no election in December, ahead of the holiday season, but pledged an announcement of “next steps.”

The nationalist and unionist parties, Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), failed to reach an agreement on forming a new devolved government within six months after the May 5 election.

The DUP has blocked efforts to form a new Executive due to their ongoing stance on the Northern Ireland Protocol – an addendum to the UK’s EU Withdrawal Agreement which keeps Northern Ireland aligned with EU trade rules to avoid a hard border with Ireland.

On Oct. 28, the Northern Ireland Assembly held a last-minute sitting to see if a deal could be struck between nationalist Sinn Fein and the DUP to form the new devolved government six months after the election, but it was unsuccessful.

Sinn Fein secured a historic victory in May, winning a majority of 27 seats in Stormont, making it the first nationalist party to take control of the assembly in its century of existence.

According to the Northern Ireland-specific law and the latest election result, a power-sharing devolved government can only be formed under an agreement between Sinn Fein and the DUP.

Sinn Fein nominated the party’s Vice President Michelle O’Neill as the new first minister, but the DUP repeatedly refused to nominate a deputy and said it would not change its stance unless the Northern Ireland Protocol is scrapped.

Northern Ireland Protocol

The thorny issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol has played a huge part in the making of the new Executive since the election.

The DUP has consistently said it will not enter the Executive unless there is “substantial reform” to the protocol, which they believe creates a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK are subject to checks to protect the European free market.

The hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland had ceased to exist with the 1998 Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, an international treaty that ended decades of sectarian violence in the region.

The central UK government in London has said the protocol, which was signed by Britain and the EU to be able to reach a Brexit deal, was causing problems a few months after and requested that the bloc renegotiate the deal. The EU has repeatedly said it would not renegotiate it and that the UK must observe the rules of the agreement.

Last week new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “restated his preference for exploring a negotiated solution to the current issues” of the protocol in a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, reiterating the point of his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.