Power-sharing was the central goal of Northern Ireland’s peace accord of 1998, which largely ended a three-decade conflict that claimed nearly 3,700 lives. But Stormont’s mandatory coalition of former enemies has proved unstable and ineffective, particularly in the past decade. A multi-year budget — considered essential for driving reforms, including to Northern Ireland’s U.K.-low local rates of tax — hasn’t been agreed since 2011.
Both Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionists are suffering in the most recent opinion polls — in the DUP’s case, partly because its former leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, in June was convicted of sexually assaulting two girls.
Stormont’s dysfunction is raising the risk that Sinn Féin or the DUP could unilaterally withdraw from government again, forcing its shutdown, ahead of the next Northern Ireland Assembly elections in May 2027.
Leaving their meeting with Bryant, a former Sinn Féin finance minister, Conor Murphy, stressed that his Irish republican party was growing increasingly frustrated by the DUP. Flanked by current Finance Minister John O’Dowd and Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald, Murphy accused the DUP of lacking “the political will to make power-sharing work.”
“The institutions are in a precarious place. We have seen people walk out of them before,” Murphy said, adding: “There is a danger that the wheels could come off the wagon.”
Minutes later, when asked about Sinn Fein’s criticisms, Democratic Unionist leader Gavin Robinson dismissed them. “If he’s worried about his wheels coming off,” Robinson said, referring to Murphy’s wagon analogy, “he should tighten his nuts.”