Maria Sierra London

London

Updated Monday, February 12, 2024-15:27

  • Europe to first republican chief minister of Northern Ireland: "We must look without fear at the unity of Ireland"

  • United Kingdom Sinn Fein assures that the reunification of Ireland "is within reach"

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Jeffrey Donaldson

, leader of the

Democratic Unionist Party

(DUP), defended this Monday in

London

the restoration of

shared government in Northern Ireland

as a sign of "hope and confidence in the future." "Northern Ireland offers hope based on respect and tolerance," reiterated the Northern Irish parliamentarian, highlighting the national identity of the population of the divided British autonomous territory among the issues still unresolved.

Donaldson appeared together with his colleague and close collaborator in the Westminster Parliament, Kevin Robinson, before members of the Foreign Press Association (FPA) 10 days after the formation of the Belfast Assembly and the appointment of the Northern Irish Executive, which Two women are presiding for the first time in the centuries-old history of Northern Ireland.

The DUP boycotted regional institutions for two years in protest at the implementation of the Brexit agreement and the return to the Stormont Parliament has placed the party in second position with respect to its political opponents, the Irish republican party

Sinn Fein

.

"There is symbolism in the positions, but they are equal before the law," Donaldson said, referring to the nomination of

Sinn Fein's

number two ,

Michelle O'Neill

, as the province's chief minister. Lawyer Emma Little-Pengelly, whom Donaldson himself chose as the heir to her autonomous functions, holds the position of deputy prime minister.

Neither can make decisions without the consensus of their peers, taking into account the principle of consensus in both communities established in the

Good Friday / Beffast Agreement

that underpins the framework of the peace process.

Sinn Fein took advantage of the visibility of the new position in Belfast to predict the political reunification of the island of Ireland within six years. In his meeting with the FPA, Donaldson downplayed the "charged rhetoric" of the Republicans who, as he noted ironically, share the reins of the Government of a British province whose existence they have repudiated since the partition of the island last century.

"Unity (of Ireland) is a valid aspiration for Sinn Fein and others, but there is a long way to go to build a majority in their favor in Northern Ireland. We are not there," he said in London.

Robinson in turn pointed out that Irish nationalism has claimed electoral ground in recent years. In the 2022 regional elections, Sinn Fein obtained more support than the DUP. but the nationalist-republican bloc dropped three points compared to the previous quote.

"Sinn Fein is growing at the expense of the SDLP," Donaldson said, referring to the moderate Irish nationalist party led by Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume. The DUP leader resigned from his seat in Stormont, which he won in the institutional boycott phase, in order to negotiate the revision of the Brexit protocol

directly

with the British Government. He plans to maintain his presence in Westminster until Prime Minister

Rishi Sunak

calls the general election scheduled for the autumn, and in the face of consistent opinion polls pointing to a colossal defeat for the Conservatives. "We are pragmatic and we can work well with Labour," Donaldson smiled before ending his meeting with foreign media in London.