DUP agrees deal to restore power-sharing executive at Stormont

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he has been given a “decisive” mandate to move forward after the party agreed to endorse a deal to restore power-sharing.

He said the party will return to Stormont after a two-year boycott provided the government tables key legislation which has been promised.

The announcement, shortly before 1am on Tuesday, followed a marathon meeting of the party executive that lasted more than five hours.

British Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris called the DUP move “a welcome and significant step”, adding that parties entitled to form an executive will meet later today, Tuesday, January 30.

But in a sign of the deep divisions within unionism, there were protests outside the DUP meeting, held amid much secrecy outside Lisburn.

Afterwards, TUV leader Jim Allister accused the DUP of ‘caving in’ on key demands.

“Sadly, in betrayal of their own solemn pledges, the DUP has caved in on an Irish Sea border, EU law and the suspension of Article 6. Seems not one word of the Union-dismantling Protocol has been removed,” he said.

The DUP has boycotted government at Stormont since February 2022 in protest at post-Brexit trade arrangements.

But Sir Jeffrey said a package of measures proposed by Westminster provides a basis for the party to return once key parts of the deal are implemented.

As he addressed the media, Sir Jeffrey was pressed on whether he had the party’s full support, and insisted there had been a “decisive decision of the party executive that gives me the mandate I need to move forward.”

He said he was happy with the support received at “every level of the party”.

Asked if the deal met the DUP’s seven tests, he replied “absolutely” and there was “a strong case for moving forward” once the government “delivers on its side”.

Sir Jeffrey insisted the proposals would “exceed the expectations of many”.

He also hit out at “nonsense” and “misinformation” in recent days about what was contained in the proposals.

While no timetable for a return to Stormont was laid out, Sir Jeffrey said he believed the government can move quickly to bring forward the legislation at Westminster, leading to the rapid return of devolved government.

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