After two years of political deadlock in Northern Ireland, there appears to be a way out of the impasse, with the main unionist party, which has been boycotting local institutions, reaching an agreement with London on post-Brexit rules, according to AFP.

If successful, the compromise, the contents of which remain unknown, would mark the end of a crisis that has deeply affected public services in the province and overwhelmed the population.

This will lead to a representative of a party that supports Irish reunification at the head of the local government, which will be a historic turning point in the British province with a bloody past.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) walked out of Northern Ireland’s Stormont executive and parliament in February 2022 in protest at new post-Brexit trade rules they see as a threat to the province’s place in the United Kingdom.

After months of negotiations and internal voting, party leader Geoffrey Donaldson announced on Monday night that the DUP was ready to take part in a Stormont re-run thanks to concessions made by London.

Details will not be revealed until Wednesday, but the deal contains “measures that are good for Northern Ireland and will restore our place in the UK and its internal market”, Geoffrey Donaldson defended.

In particular, he said that goods that remain in the UK will no longer be subject to “physical inspection”, except in cases of suspected fraud, as is the case in the rest of the country.

A lot of work

“It was a time, it was very immature of the DUP,” said Ellen O’Connor, a 19-year-old student interviewed by AFP in a nationalist quarter of Belfast.

“You can’t just play by the rules when it suits you, that’s not how democracy works,” she continued, pointing to the impact of the paralysis on “a lot of people” around her and the recent strike of tens of thousands of people. civil servants demand a salary increase.

In the union area, 73-year-old retiree Cilla Flemming is waiting to see what the agreement contains: “I want to read it and see for myself.”

The absence of a parliament and local executive with jurisdiction over a wide range of issues such as education and health is causing severe disruptions in public services in the province, a situation exacerbated by the cost of living crisis.

London has pledged a 3.3 billion pound (3.8 billion euro) package to the province after reforming the assembly.

After the agreement is approved by the British Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly will have to meet to elect a president and appoint the first minister of the future local government.

She is expected to be Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s vice-president, the big winner of the last local election, the province’s first. “We have a lot of work to do,” she said.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, who traveled from Dublin, was also delighted.

Brussels is “closely watching”…

The DUP was particularly opposed to last year’s deal between London and Brussels, known as the Windsor Framework, which sets out rules to prevent the province from being separated from the border with the Republic of Ireland, as stipulated in the thirty-year-old peace accords. violence

For some Unionists, this structure does not sufficiently protect the province’s place in the United Kingdom, as Northern Ireland continues to be subject to European rules.

According to British Minister for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris, the agreement reached on Tuesday will not require revision with Brussels.

However, the spokesperson of the European Commission said that it is “closely monitoring” the situation and will “study this text”.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Vardadkar spoke to Rishi Sunak about the call to ensure the deal “does not have a negative impact” on the Windsor Framework or the 1998 peace accord.

Both hope the deal “paves the way” for a return to Northern Ireland institutions and North-South ministerial meetings, according to an exchange protocol released by Dublin and London.