Sinn Fein has agreed to back a deal to restore Northern Ireland's power-sharing government, ending three years of political paralysis. The republican party's endorsement, following the DUP's earlier support for the draft proposal by the UK and Irish governments, means the two parties will re-enter a mandatory coalition in Belfast. Peace process structures require the inclusion of both the largest unionist and nationalist parties for the ministerial executive to function.
Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald confirmed that the party's ruling council had decided to re-enter the power-sharing institutions and nominate ministers. Speaking in Belfast, she described the challenges as 'absolutely immense' but expressed confidence in Sinn Fein's ability to meet them. The wide-ranging deal includes compromises on contentious issues such as legislative provisions for Irish language speakers, which had been at the heart of the 36-month impasse.
The agreement also includes a significant Treasury-funded financial package to address acute problems in the public sector, which has suffered during the governance vacuum. Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith warned that the financial support, reportedly worth billions of pounds, depended on the parties returning to government. He added that he had received assurances from trade union leaders that health workers' strikes would be called off if devolution was restored.
On the day of the decision, nurses were picketing Stormont over pay and staffing shortages. Smith stated that the money was available to resolve the dispute but only if devolution returned. The deal was published by the UK and Irish governments on Thursday night, and local politicians faced pressure to back it or risk losing funding.
