The UK central government will extend by one year the ultimatum to call a parliamentary election in Northern Ireland, while waiting for the parties to come closer together and to resolve with the European Union the issues that remain open in relation to Brexit, in particular the details relating to compliance with the Northern Ireland protocol.
The Minister for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, has advanced to Parliament before a new meeting with the parties that he sees the need to delay the deadline until January 18, 2024, although this limit leaves London room to call new elections at any time in 2023.
Northern Ireland has had no effective government since the May 5 elections, which for the first time put the republican Sinn Féin ahead of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in number of seats. The consensus between the two to form a coalition is also key to the validity of the 1998 peace agreements.
After the meeting with Heaton-Harris, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, who claims her right to head the Northern Irish government, lamented the new postponement. «We need decisions now, we need results now. The North needs a government and obviously a budget that meets the needs of our society,» she said, according to the BBC.
For his part, DUP MP Gordon Lyons said the additional delay gives London and Brussels more time to resolve the ongoing dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol. This protocol keeps Northern Ireland within the European common market in exchange for establishing certain controls on the traffic of goods from Great Britain.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
