Northern Ireland’s lawmakers on Saturday restored its devolved assembly after a two-year hiatus, paving the way for a power-sharing government led for the first time by a pro-Irish unity nationalist.
In a special sitting to restart the Northern Ireland Assembly after the biggest pro-UK party ended its boycott, lawmakers were set to nominate Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill as first minister in a historic step for the UK territory.
The session, which follows the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ending its walkout after striking a deal with the UK government over post-Brexit trade rules, will also see a deputy first minister and other ministers appointed.
Under the 1998 Good Friday or Belfast Agreement that ended three decades of sectarian violence over British rule in Northern Ireland, the first minister and deputy first minister posts are equal.
But the appointment at the Stormont assembly of…
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