DUBLIN, Jan 19 — Fresh elections could be held in Northern Ireland if a deadline passes without the resumption of power-sharing government, the UK government indicated today.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he would “assess carefully all options” if there is no change to the political stand-off over post-Brexit trade.
“The restoration of the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland is an absolute priority for my government,” Heaton-Harris wrote in the Irish Times before a British-Irish conference in Dublin.
“If this stalemate continues, sadly, I will have to do more,” he added.
Northern Ireland has been without a devolved government for almost a year because of a walk-out by the pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
The DUP collapsed the power-sharing executive with pro-Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein in February 2022 because of its opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The protocol, signed between London and Brussels as part of the UK’s Brexit divorce from the European Union, governs trade in the British province, and keeps Northern Ireland in the European single market.
The DUP wants the deal overhauled or scrapped entirely, arguing it casts Northern Ireland adrift from the rest of the UK and makes a united Ireland more likely.
It had been due to share power with Sinn Fein, who became the biggest party in the assembly after elections last May.
If power-sharing is not restored, Heaton-Harris is by law obliged to announce from Friday a date for a new election within the next six weeks to allow a further six weeks of campaigning.
Under current rules, this would mean an election would have to be held no later than April 13 -- three days after the 25th anniversary of the 1998 agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland.
It is widely expected that the UK government will put forward new legislation further to extend the cut-off point for the formation of a government, pushing elections further into the future.
The delay is aimed at taking pressure off the UK and the EU as they negotiate to resolve differences over the protocol.
A breakthrough could see parties return to Stormont but is not guaranteed, leaving Northern Ireland without a government on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
In Washington yesterday, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said talks with the EU were not framed to meet the anniversary. — AFP
