British and Irish PMs visit #NorthernIreland, urging end to political crisis

British Prime Minister Theresa May and Irish leader Leo Varadkar met with Northern Ireland’s main political parties in Belfast on Monday (12 February) to urge the restoration of the province’s devolved administration, write William James in London and Padraic Halpin in Dublin.

Northern Ireland has been without an executive and assembly for more than a year following Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein’s withdrawal from a power-sharing government with its rival, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

Despite repeated deadlines, the two parties have since failed to reach any new agreement, leaving a lack of political leadership that critics say has sidelined Northern Ireland as Britain negotiates its exit from the European Union.

May will also say that good progress has been made in recent days, echoing statements made by both the DUP and Sinn Fein on Friday.

Varadkar, who on Sunday warned May that time was running out for Britain to spell out exactly what kind of a post-Brexit deal it wants from the EU, will hold a meeting with the British prime minister while the two leaders are in Belfast, his office said.

He will also use the visit to assess the state of play in the Belfast negotiations and encourage the parties to reach an agreement, his office said in a statement.

Before the latest round of talks, disagreement remained on a range of issues including same-sex marriage, which is illegal in Northern Ireland despite being legal in the rest of Britain and Ireland, rights for Irish-language speakers, and funding for inquests into deaths during decades of Protestant-Catholic sectarian violence before a 1998 peace deal.

Many in the province fear that direct rule would further destabilize the delicate political balance between the two sides who, until last year, had run the province since 2007 under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord.

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