Key role for Northern Ireland’s DUP raises many questions

The linchpin role that the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland is set to play in propping up the minority government of Prime Minister Theresa May has raised many questions about the impact it will have on Westminster and beyond, and crucially on the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 over the weekend, Jonathan Powell, former chief of staff to ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair (and chief British negotiator on Northern Ireland at the time of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement), noted that allying with any party in the highly divided political landscape of Northern Ireland was one that the past government had avoided for a reason. “The peace process is based on a balance that the British government has made it clear it is neutral in Northern Ireland. It does not take sides.”

Negotiations are currently ongoing between Northern Ireland’s main political parties to restore power sharing and a devolved executive, following an election in March. The election was triggered by the republican Sinn Fein, withdrawing its support for the DUP over a dispute relating to a controversial renewable energy scheme. The deadline for talks have been extended repeatedly, now to June 29 — after which new elections, direct rule from Westminster (or yet another deadline) are potential outcomes. Powell pointed out that the British government’s role as a mediator was no longer viable.

It will also raise questions relating to Brexit: the DUP was the main Northern Irish party to be in favour of Brexit, in a region that otherwise voted heavily to remain in the European Union. (55.8 per cent of voters wanted to remain in the EU last June). While the DUP is in favour of an open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, logistically this is one of the most complex issues relating to Brexit, and in the words of one politician “the greatest economic and social challenge for the island in 50 years.”

Speaking in the House of Lords earlier this year, former Labour Cabinet member Peter Hain highlighted the logistical difficulties that exiting the EU would present to the 300-mile border, with 35,000 people crossing each day. Over the weekend, he too reiterated — in an interview with LBC radio — the importance of the British government remaining neutral. “You simply can’t deal, as a British Prime Minister…with the parties and make progress, build confidence, and keep the whole show on the road, and move forward unless you are genuinely non-partisan.” He added that while Northern Ireland would not necessarily return to the “troubles’ (the period of deep civil and political unrest in Northern Ireland, from the 1960s to the 1990s that pitted largely Protestant Unionists against largely Catholic separatists) the peace process remained “highly delicate.” Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill accused the DUP of “betraying the interests” of Northern Ireland.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who spoke to May over the weekend, said via Twitter that he had expressed his concerns that nothing should be done to put the Good Friday Agreement at risk, and the lack of a nationalist voice in Parliament following the election (the Sinn Fein has 7 seats but does not take them up, while the Ulster Unionist Party and Social Democratic and Labour Party lost all the seats they’d won in 2015).

However, incoming Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has indicated he is overall more optimistic about the outcome, telling the Belfast Telegraph that the results could provide an “opportunity for Ireland” given the lack of mandate for a hard Brexit.

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