On April 10, 1998, the governments of London and Dublin and Republican and Unionist leaders reached a historic peace agreement on Good Friday.

Three years of stagnation

The agreement provided for the distribution of power between the Protestant and Catholic camps, in the semi-autonomous regional institutions (parliament and government).

The hard-line Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) brings together Protestant Democratic Unionists, while the Catholic Nationalist Republicans are Sinn Fein, the former political arm of the IRA.

In January 2017, that alliance collapsed due to a political-financial scandal, leading to the suspension of the devolved government in Northern Ireland for three years.

In January 2020, the regional parliament resumed work and the formation of a government, which has been destabilized for more than two years by divisions over the expansion of the House of Representatives. Britain’s exit from the European Union Within the DUP, causing many changes in its leadership.

in the front line

Britain’s exit from the European Union

Northern Ireland, with a population of 1.9 million, 3% of Britain’s population, shares a 500-kilometre land border with the Republic of Ireland.

The Britain’s exit from the European Union The fragile balance in the region was shaken. To avoid the return of physical borders on the island, the necessary customs controls between the United Kingdom and the European Union were moved to the ports of Northern Ireland, which applied to goods coming from the island of Great Britain.