The UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is expected to share details regarding the deal to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland on Wednesday (31 January), though the deal will not bear any major changes to the Windsor Framework. 

Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris told Euractiv on Tuesday evening that he “will publish the details of the proposals (…) made to secure Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market and to strengthen the Union”.

The deal, announced in the early hours of Tuesday morning, has brought an end to nearly two years of stagnation in the Northern Irish Assembly.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Jeffrey Donaldson and the rest of the party had prevented the Northern Irish Assembly from forming because they were dissatisfied with the terms of the Northern Irish Protocol and the Windsor Framework — two deals that governed how goods would move between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which remained in the EU Single Market following Brexit.

The DUP’s chief grievance was that the deals, which established varying levels of border checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, created the sense that Northern Ireland was not on equal footing with the rest of the United Kingdom.

A lack of significant changes

Donaldson gave a statement at a press conference Monday night where he alluded to what was included in the deal.

“This package I believe safeguards Northern Ireland’s place in the Union and will restore our place within the UK internal market. It will remove checks for goods moving within the UK, and remaining in Northern Ireland, and will end Northern Ireland automatically following future EU laws,” he said.

However, experts point out that the package will not significantly change the current terms of the Windsor Framework.

“I can’t imagine there are massive differences [to the Windsor Framework] because the EU won’t accept that,” Peter McLoughlin, Northern Ireland politics expert and senior lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, told Euractiv. 

McLoughlin said substantive changes might upset the EU or flout the Good Friday Agreement, which would upset the Nationalists and the Sinn Féin party.

Waiting and seeing

The details of the deal aren’t clear yet, though, and McLoughlin said statements from Donaldson and/or the DUP made in the coming days might not provide much clarity.

“It might be more that we see what the deal is about by the British government’s moves over the next few days,” he added. 

In addition to legislation further reducing checks on goods moving across the Irish Sea, McLoughlin expects legislation from Westminster will symbolically rearticulate Great Britain’s commitment to a union with Northern Ireland.

Criticism of the deal

Donaldson’s task is to present whatever changes arise as “massive”, McLoughlin said. 

“What will be challenging is if the Unionists and critics of the deal think this will be enough,” he added.

Critiques also come from DUP opposition. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) released a statement today welcoming the news, but criticising the boycott as it threatened the political structure set up by the Good Friday Agreement and harmed Northern Irish citizens. 

SDLP MP Colum Eastwood said: “Years of stagnation have led to serious damage to public services, the position of public sector workers, the health of people waiting unreasonable times for hospital treatment and, ultimately, to public confidence in the political process.”

McLoughlin added that no deal is likely to come problem-free. “Brexit (was) bound to be massively disruptive,” he said. “There is no ideal trade (policy) other than being back in the EU. Unless you turn the clock back, there will always be friction and problems.”

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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