The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) announced early this Tuesday its decision to end almost two years of blockade of the autonomous institutions of Northern Ireland.
Its leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, has confirmed that the agreement reached with the Government of the United Kingdom, regarding the Ireland Protocol, which established the post-Brexit situation of this British territory - a treaty that unionists always considered as a betrayal of London —has finally convinced the management of the training.
“The package of measures [agreed between the DUP and the Government of Rishi Sunak] in its entirety provides the basis for our party to appoint members of the Northern Ireland Executive, and thus achieve the restoration of autonomous institutions,” Donaldson announced.
The Good Friday Peace Agreement of 1998, which put an end to decades of violent conflict between unionists and republicans - the so-called
troubles
- obliges the two main political currents in the region to share a government, as an unavoidable condition for for autonomous institutions to function.
What in principle would be useful to force continued collaboration and consensus became in practice a tool of coercion used by both the DUP and Sinn Féin republicans (the historical political arm of the IRA terrorist organization) to block in their own interest the normal functioning of self-government institutions.
Since February 2022, the unionists decided to use this capacity, in protest of the Ireland Protocol.
The agreement between London and Brussels, probably the most delicate and complex part of the long Brexit negotiations, was never accepted by the DUP.
The idea that Northern Ireland should remain within the internal market and customs area of the EU, to safeguard the border with the Republic of Ireland (community territory) was interpreted by unionists as disloyalty on the part of London, and one more step in the distance between the United Kingdom and this territory.
The application of a protocol that involved customs, sanitary and phytosanitary controls on a large part of the products and merchandise traveling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and vice versa increased the irritation of the Protestant community.
The streets of Belfast and Londonderry experienced scenes of street violence unlike anything seen in decades, with vehicle and container fires and vandalism against businesses.
The conservative British Government—first with Boris Johnson at the helm;
shortly afterwards with Liz Truss—he began legislative procedures in the House of Commons to pass a law that allowed his ministers to disobey the provisions of the Irish Protocol.
The EU interpreted the gesture as a full-fledged challenge, and London's announcement that it was willing to deliberately violate international law.
Rishi Sunak's 'peace'
On February 27, 2023, Rishi Sunak surprised everyone when he signed, together with the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the so-called Windsor Framework Agreement, in that historic English town.
The new prime minister displayed pragmatism and managed to relax relations with Brussels.
The EU, which saw in the figure of Sunak the opportunity to improve relations with London, also showed the flexibility necessary to right the wrong.
The community government relaxed a large part of the customs controls between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and even opened up to giving some participation and voice to the Autonomous Assembly of Northern Ireland in the face of future regulatory changes in the internal market that would affect the Northern Irish territory. .
The Windsor Framework Agreement was celebrated as a great milestone of peace on both sides of the English Channel, and contributed largely to finally removing Brexit from the political debate in the United Kingdom and the concerns of the institutions in Brussels.
The situation in Northern Ireland, however, remained gangrenous.
The DUP never trusted what was agreed in Windsor and demanded more guarantees, while keeping the autonomous institutions blocked.
The consequence of this paralysis was that the day-to-day governance of Northern Ireland, in its most basic matters, was carried out remotely from London.
Regional officials have not seen a salary increase for two years.
Some 170,000 of them staged the largest strike in their history earlier this month.
Furthermore, the financial aid offered by the British Government, some 3.8 billion euros, has been paralyzed all this time.
The shadow of Sinn Féin
Those familiar with the Northern Irish reality believe that the reluctance of unionists regarding the Irish Protocol, although real, hides a much deeper fear.
In May 2022, Sinn Féin achieved a historic victory in the Northern Ireland regional elections for the first time, facing a divided unionism.
As established by the Good Friday Agreement, the result implied that Michelle O'Neill, the republican candidate, had to occupy the chair of chief minister of the Northern Irish Government, something difficult to swallow for the most radical unionism, which has never stopped seeing to Sinn Féin as the heirs of IRA terrorism.
In recent years, the party has moved away from that past to present itself as a modern left-wing party, with a more social than political discourse.
The strategy has allowed him to make major electoral gains in the Republic of Ireland and also in Northern Ireland.
Both the DUP and the British Government have committed to making known the details of the agreement reached this Wednesday.
Part of the guarantee offered to get the unionists to give in their position consists of approving new legislation in the British Parliament that includes what was agreed.
Donaldson has assured that the agreement has the consensus of British Conservatives and Labor, to protect it against future changes of Government in London.
“The new legislation will reaffirm Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom.
And it will restore the ability to trade freely with the rest of the country while maintaining our access to the EU internal market,” Donaldson has promised his people.
Part of the party leadership has refused to support the agreement, and fifty citizens protested on Monday night in front of the party headquarters to avoid what, for them, would be the umpteenth stab in the back.
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