Northern Ireland's first minister Peter Robinson resigns
Source: The Guardian
Northern Ireland’s first minister has resigned with the region’s power-sharing government on the brink of collapse over police allegations that the IRA still exists.
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Earlier on Thursday the DUP failed to win enough votes in the parliament’s business committee to adjourn the workings of the assembly. Robinson wanted an adjournment to allow for only emergency talks to take place over allegations that the IRA still exists and had killed its one time member Kevin McGuigan.
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Asked if he was considering powers to suspend the assembly, the prime minister’s spokeswoman said: “There are obviously now different people calling for different things, and the prime minister’s calls with the secretary of state and the first minister are an opportunity for us to consider what steps should be taken next.”
The SDLP resisted pressure from the Irish premier during a meeting in Dublin in which Taoiseach Enda Kenny urged the northern nationalist party to support adjournment as a means of saving devolution in Northern Ireland.
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/10/northern-ireland-government-on-brink-of-collapse
The background to this is fairly complicated - here's some of it, written earlier today:
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Belfast republicans faced a stark choice this summer. They could grit their teeth and allow the Police Service of Northern Ireland to catch the killer of the ex-IRA commander, Gerard ‘Jock’ Davison, and not bring about a political crisis. Or, fearing which veteran IRA figure might be targeted next by former enemies within the Catholic community, they could strike back. They chose the latter, hence the crisis. McGuigan, a former IRA hitman, was shot dead in August in revenge for Davison’s killing.
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If devolution and power sharing crashes, will this result in a return to Troubles-style conflict?
No. The vast majority of people in both communities are totally opposed to any return to full-scale violence and that includes Sinn Féin’s electorate. The party knows the IRA cannot be brought back as a full-time fighting force taking on the state because, among other things, this would be disastrous to Sinn Féin’s electoral prospects in the Irish Republic.
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What will happen if direct rule has to be reimposed from London?
All the Ulster parties – unionists, nationalists, republicans, and neither – are enthusiastic supporters of controlling their own destiny in terms of the devolved institutions. But if London takes over again, the Conservative government will impose a radical welfare shakeup and cuts to Northern Ireland’s huge public sector. This would prove deeply unpopular, particularly among Sinn Féin’s support base.
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/10/northern-irelands-political-crisis-the-key-questions-answered
= new reply since forum marked as read
