It is still early days for the DUP’s new power-sharing deal

It has been nearly two years since the last elections for the Northern Ireland Assembly. Sinn Féin, for the first time, emerged as the largest party, with 27 of the 90 seats, two ahead of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). But the assembly has only met four times since then. Business cannot proceed until a speaker is elected, and the DUP has consistently refused to take part in the cross-community process of choosing one. Now, 21 months later, the DUP has finally agreed to a deal with the UK government to restore power-sharing to Stormont.

The party had boycotted the assembly because of its opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol, which allowed Northern Ireland access to the European single market after Brexit but required customs checks on goods coming into Northern Ireland from Great Britain. This new border in the Irish Sea has been a red line for the DUP, an unacceptable division within the United Kingdom.