'All conditions now in place' to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland, says minister
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris says he will publish the full details of the deal shortly.
Tuesday 30 January 2024 17:39, UK
The UK government believes "all the conditions are now in place" for a return of power-sharing in Northern Ireland after a deal was agreed with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he was looking forward to the "restoration of the institutions at Stormont as soon as possible" following a near two-year suspension by the DUP in protest against post-Brexit trade arrangements.
Politics latest: Stormont power-sharing deal struck
The details of the deal have yet to be published, but Mr Heaton-Harris denied to Sky News it was being kept "secret" - adding the agreement represented a "significant development".
After the interview, the government published a document from the joint committee between the UK and EU post-Brexit, which sees the bloc give its stamp of approval to the new deal with Northern Ireland.
And it revealed the plan would include expanding the "not at risk" category for food to cut tariffs on food imports for Northern Ireland, allowing them to take advantage of other free trade agreements the UK has.
But the full agreement with the DUP has still not been made available.
EU throws Sunak a bone over NI
So the government has produced a rabbit out of the hat, just as we teeter on the edge of a deal to restore Stormont.
Suddenly they've revealed the fruits of months of secret negotiation with the EU, to change the legal text governing the way trade operates in Northern Ireland.
After some speculation that the UK was prepared to rewrite the rules unilaterally, it's emerged that the EU not only knew, but were prepared to throw the UK government a bone in order to assist Rishi Sunak getting the Northern Ireland Assembly up and running.
Hard-line unionists will no doubt say it does not deal with the fundamental, quite existential questions raised by the Windsor Framework likely to play out over the next 20 years.
Nevertheless, the EU has been prepared to extend the range of goods it is content to see going into Northern Ireland without checks.
The change means the EU has agreed to expand the "not at risk" category of stuff that can use the goods Green Lane, which doesn't require checks.
Supporters are claiming this means Northern Ireland can properly take advantage of free trade agreements struck by post-Brexit Britain.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris says that it means a cut to food tariffs to goods like New Zealand lamb and Australian beef. We shall see.
Critically, politically, it has allowed Jeffrey Donaldson to strike a note of vindication against critics who say the "deal" the DUP has agreed to is meaningless.
"This demonstrates that the naysayers are wrong. There will be legal changes," he trumpeted on social media.
This is further than many expected, and takes us even closer to a restoration of Stormont that feels closer than it has ever been so far.
Asked by Sky News' deputy political editor Sam Coates what had changed to see an agreement reached with the DUP - and whether there were going to be fewer checks on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland - the minister replied: "There are some significant changes but you'll have to wait until the... all-party talks are finalised.
"And when I publish the deal in parliament, everyone will see what it is."
Pressed on whether there could be a deal on the basis of a "secret package", Mr Heaton-Harris said: "It's not a secret package.
"It's been a negotiation, and the negotiation has been between the Democratic Unionist Party and the UK government."
He said all of the parties in Northern Ireland were not being briefed on the deal, and that he would be in a position to reveal the details once they had been finalised.
Although he did not reveal specific details, Mr Heaton Harris confirmed a financial package of £3.3bn will be available to the incoming executive.
"I believe that all the conditions are now in place for the Assembly to return, and I look forward very much to the restoration of the institutions at Stormont as soon as possible," he said.
He also praised DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson for his "leadership" - and said it has "never been in doubt" that Sir Jeffrey's "prime concern was to secure and reinforce Northern Ireland's place in the union".
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Sir Jeffrey said his party would 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.
Power-sharing, the mechanism by which a Stormont executive is formed under the Good Friday Agreement, was collapsed by the DUP's refusal to allow a speaker to be nominated in 2022.
The DUP, which won fewer seats than the republican Sinn Fein party for the first time in 2022's election, highlighted its opposition to Rishi Sunak's Windsor Framework deal with the EU, which it argues has created a border down the Irish Sea, separating Northern Ireland from Great Britain - a contravention of its principles.
Speaking after Mr Heaton-Harris's conference, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said the re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly had been "a long time coming", but added: "We are very pleased we are at this juncture."
She went on to say she was aware there further work to be done and that "society has really suffered from the absence of government over the last two years".
"I very much welcome the fact that the DUP have moved to explicitly recognise and respect the outcome of that Assembly election, and we look forward to getting the job done."
When the executive is restored, Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O'Neill is set to become Northern Ireland's first nationalist first minister - which Ms McDonald described as "a mark, I suppose, of the extent of change that has occurred here in the north, and indeed, right across Ireland".
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long also said she had "bittersweet emotions" following the announcement of the deal.
"I am pleased that we are now potentially in a position to see the restoration of the institutions and to be able to actually start doing all of our jobs after a two-year block on that," she said.
"I admit I am still slightly stinging from the fact that we have lost that two years, that the damage that has been done can't simply be undone."
Under the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland operates under a power-sharing model where at least two parties agree to govern together.
The executive is made up of the job of first minister and deputy first minister.
Following the 2022 election result, in which Sinn Fein emerged as the largest party, Ms O'Neill is set to be first minister while the DUP will pick the deputy first minister.