Northern Ireland Assembly gathering to form executive in last-ditch effort before Friday deadline

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – The Northern Ireland Assembly will sit on Thursday to see if a last-minute deal can be struck between nationalist Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to form a new devolved government six months after the election.

Previous efforts to form a Northern Ireland Executive have failed as the DUP is refusing to be in the new government due to reservations over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The nationalist party Sinn Fein won the most seats in the May 5 election for the first time, in a historic result, ending a victorious run for the DUP.

After their win, Sinn Fein nominated the party’s Northern Ireland leader Michelle O’Neill as the new first minister. However, a new executive cannot be formed until the DUP, the second-biggest party, nominates a deputy, as a requisite for a new government.

Speaking with party leaders on Wednesday, British Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris told them a new election could be imposed in six weeks if they fail to form a new government.

"Time is running out, and people in Northern Ireland deserve locally elected decision-makers and an executive who can respond to the issues facing people, families, and communities across Northern Ireland during this challenging time,” Heaton-Harris said.

“Now more than ever, we need all parties working together & prioritising supporting people,” O’Neill wrote on Twitter.

“The denial of democracy must end now.”

DUP Economy Minister Gordon Lyons on the other hand said a power-sharing government cannot be restored without changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

“Northern Ireland needs a lasting solution which unionists can support,” he said.

“Power-sharing is not possible without such an agreement. We are always willing to explain the problems one more time, but Sinn Fein has ignored unionism’s warnings for more than two years. That’s not the behaviour of people who believe in power-sharing.”

If the last-ditch effort fails to produce a new devolved government before the Friday deadline, a new election could be called by the central UK government.

Sinn Fein secured a historic victory in a May election , winning a majority of 27 seats in Stormont, making it the first nationalist party to take control of the assembly in its century of existence.

- Northern Ireland Protocol

The thorny issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which was signed with the EU as part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement and keeps Northern Ireland aligned with the bloc for the sake of avoiding a hard border with Ireland, has played a huge part in the making of the new executive since the election.

The DUP has consistently said it will not enter the executive unless there is “substantial reform” to the protocol, which they believe creates a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

- Troubles over, hurdles remain

Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU in the 2016 referendum, and it is feared the Brexit process could trigger enmity in the region.

The Troubles, an era of conflict between the British government and pro-British paramilitaries on one side and Irish Republicans and nationalists on the other, ended in 1998 when the Belfast Agreement put an end to decades of armed struggle in the divided UK region of Northern Ireland.

The UK and the Republic of Ireland signed the deal, brokered by the US and eight political parties in Northern Ireland, in 1998.

The deal, dubbed the Good Friday Agreement, largely saw the end of Troubles-era violence in which 3,500 people lost their lives.