Vote will take place on 2 March, James Brokenshire says, after deadline for deal passes, triggering collapse of power-sharing executive

Elections to a new Northern Ireland assembly will take place on 2 March, James Brokenshire has announced. The Northern Ireland secretary was forced to call the poll after 5pm on Monday when it became clear there would be no 11th-hour deal to bring the Democratic Unionist party and Sinn Féin together to save power sharing in the region.

Brokenshire was obliged by law to declare an election date after the deadline this evening, drawning a curtain over nearly a decade of cross-community coalitions between unionists and nationalists.



The present assembly will sit until 26 January, when it will be dissolved. The new election takes place just 10 months after the previous one, which resulted in a joint Sinn Féin-Democratic Unionist party government.

The devolved administration fell after a row over a bungled green energy scheme and the Democratic Unionist first minister’s refusal to temporarily stand down from her post.



Sinn Féin earlier on Monday refused to nominate a new deputy first minister in the Stormont parliament, thus triggering an election. The Democratic Unionists had once again put forward Arlene Foster as first minister.



But under the complex rules of power sharing in the province, a government could not survive if the main political representatives of one section of the community refused to participate in the administration.

Announcing the election, the Northern Ireland secretary said: “I am now obliged under relevant legislation to propose a date for the next Northern Ireland assembly election. The election seeks to have the views of the future of Northern Ireland and bring people back together again and assures those lines of communications remain open.”

Just before the collapse of the power-sharing coalition between Sinn Féin and the DUP, Theresa May telephoned Martin McGuinness and Arlene Foster to encourage them to reach a last-minute deal to save the devolved institutions. May told them that they needed to do so to strengthen Northern Ireland’s voice in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations with the EU.



A spokeswoman for the prime minister said: “She spoke to both Arlene Foster and Martin McGuinness to encourage them to use what time was left today to try to find a resolution to the situation in Northern Ireland, outlining the importance of finding a way forward – particularly in the context of wanting to make sure that Northern Ireland has a voice in the UK’s exit from the European Union as we approach the critical period before triggering article 50.”

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Her appeal failed to sway Sinn Féin, and the party declined to nominate a deputy first minister. Shortly afterwards, Foster appeared in Stormont’s Great Hall surrounded by DUP stalwarts including several of the party’s MPs at Westminster. She said: “Northern Ireland does not need an election; it needs stable government.”



The first minister said Sinn Féin had forced the election on Northern Ireland. “They have forced an election that risks Northern Ireland’s future and stability and which suits nobody but themselves,” she said.

If the DUP and Sinn Féin are once again returned as the two largest parties in the new assembly, the chances of them forming a fresh cross-community government appear at this stage to be remote. The atmosphere between the two parties remains toxic.



McGuinness, who is in ill health and being treated for a rare condition that attacks the heart and other vital organs, resigned as deputy first minister last Monday. He took the action in protest at Foster’s refusal to step aside while a public inquiry is held into the renewable heat incentive (RHI), an energy scheme whose costs have spiralled out of control.



It is unclear whether McGuinness will stand himself as a candidate in the forthcoming electoral contest. While Sinn Féin is keen for his name to be on the party’s slate in Foyle, it is understood that his family are concerned about his health and the impact a bruising election campaign could have on it.



If McGuinness does not stand again, one of the frontrunners to succeed him is Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Féin health minister in the outgoing government. On Monday she highlighted the difficulties in piecing together a new power sharing arrangement with the DUP.



“Sinn Féin will only be part of institutions which work and deliver for all in the community,” she said. “There can be no return to the status quo. If something is broken, you stop and you fix it.”



The cross-community Alliance party said it wanted to keep the focus during the campaign on allegations of corruption and cronyism associated with the RHI scheme as well as other scandals. Naomi Long, the Alliance leader, said: “Our party isn’t to blame for the snap election called as a result of the DUP’s and Sinn Féin’s mess.

“But unlike some, we are not running scared of an election. We will be facing the people confident – and offering the electorate an alternative to the secrecy, corruption and cronyism that they are sick of at Stormont.” </s> Northern Ireland will hold elections on 2 March to choose a new Assembly following the collapse of the Stormont power-sharing executive.

The collapse came after Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness resigned as deputy first minister last Monday, following a row between his party and the Democratic Unionist Party over a green energy scheme.

The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was designed to encourage businesses to use green energy source, however subsidies were found to be overly generous and ineffective, with projections estimating an overspend of £490m.

Sinn Féin had until midday to nominate a replacement for Mr McGuinness, which they refused to do, meaning the Northern Ireland Assembly is no longer able to continue to govern.

It gave Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, authority to call a snap election after 5pm.

He confirmed in a statement shortly after the deadline that elections would be held on Thursday 2nd March and that the Assembly would be dissolved from the 26th January, with its last sitting day held on 25th.

"No-one should underestimate the challenge faced to the political institutions here in Northern Ireland and what is at stake,” he said in a statement.

"While it is inevitable that debate during an election period will be intense, I would strongly encourage the political parties to conduct this election with a view to the future of Northern Ireland and re-establishing a partnership government at the earliest opportunity after that poll. This is essential for the operation of devolved government. And this means that all must remain open to dialogue.”

He also confirmed the Government’s continued commitment to the Belfast Agreement and promised a further statement in Parliament on Tuesday.

"The Government continues to stand firmly behind its commitment to the Belfast Agreement and its successors, and our responsibilities to safeguard political stability here in Northern Ireland,” he said.

"We will continue to do all that we can to find a way forward and secure the continuation of devolved government.” </s> Northern Ireland will hold snap elections on March 2 in a bid to resolve its worst political crisis in years after the power-sharing executive collapsed on Monday.

Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary, James Brokenshire announced the province's assembly would dissolve on January 26 and urged its feuding parties to mend fences and keep devolved government going in Belfast.

The elections were triggered as a Monday deadline passed for Catholic socialists Sinn Fein to nominate a new deputy first minister to the executive to replace Martin McGuinness.

"No one should underestimate the challenge faced to the political institutions here in Northern Ireland and what is at stake," Brokenshire said in Belfast.

"I would strongly encourage the political parties to conduct this election with a view to the future of Northern Ireland and re-establishing a partnership government at the earliest opportunity."

If, after the elections, the largest Protestant British Unionist and Catholic Irish nationalist parties cannot agree to form a new executive, the province could end up being governed from London.

McGuinness resigned in protest over a botched green heating scheme, following weeks of tensions with the Protestant, conservative Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

The scheme was instigated by First Minister Arlene Foster, leader of the DUP, when she was economy minister.

She repeatedly refused to step aside temporarily to allow an investigation into a scheme which could cost Northern Ireland taxpayers up to £490 million ($590 million, 560 million euros).

Foster said Monday that with the challenges of Brexit, a new US president and the volatile global economy, Northern Ireland needed stable government more than ever.

"NI does not need nor does its people want an election," she said.

Sinn Fein "have forced an election that risks Northern Ireland's future and its stability, and suits nobody apart from themselves."

Sinn Fein warned they would not return to the executive without the DUP shifting ground.

"Today we have called time on the arrogance of the DUP... because we could no longer accept how these institutions were being treated with contempt," assembly member Conor Murphy, backed by his colleagues, told reporters.

"There will be no return to these institutions... unless there is fundamental change to the approach of the DUP and how they do power-sharing."

Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive and assembly were formed under the 1998 Belfast Agreement that effectively ended three decades of political violence in Northern Ireland.

The sectarian voting patterns that have always characterised elections in the province's deeply divided society could remain intact in the next vote, bringing little prospect of an end to the political stalemate.

If the two biggest parties are returned as expected but the deadlock remains, then a second election could be called if there is failure to form an executive within three weeks of the vote.

The other option would be that Northern Ireland reverts to being governed from London.

The last period of direct rule ended in 2007.

In last year's Brexit referendum, 56 percent of Northern Ireland voters favoured staying in the European Union compared to the UK-wide result of 52 percent choosing to leave.

The DUP was the only one of Northern Ireland's main four political parties that called for the UK to leave the bloc.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has said she plans to launch the EU exit procedure by the end of March.

Brokenshire insisted that the snap elections would not have an impact on the timing of Britain launching the Article 50 departure process.

May spoke to Foster and McGuinness on Monday to stress the importance of finding a way forward, particularly to make sure Northern Ireland has a voice in the Article 50 process, the prime minister's spokeswoman said. </s> DUBLIN: Northern Ireland appears headed for snap elections at a time when Britain will be moving to leave the European Union, with no sign of ending a bitter political impasse before a key deadline on Monday.

The election would almost coincide with Britain’s launch of the formal procedure for leaving the EU and could either delay the talks or deprive Northern Ireland of a voice in them.

Following fruitless negotiations seeking to break the deadlock that led to the resignation of deputy first minister Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein last week, Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire signaled that elections appeared almost certain.

“Sinn Fein have indicated that they’re not intending to put a replacement forward. The clear indications are that we are moving towards an election,” Brokenshire told the BBC on Sunday.

The regional assembly will sit on Monday but if Sinn Fein fulfils its promise not to appoint a deputy first minister to replace McGuinness by 1700 GMT, Brokenshire will be forced to call an election which would have to be held within six weeks.

The crisis over a renewable energy subsidy scheme instigated by First Minister Arlene Foster of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) when she was economy minister has been simmering for months.

She repeatedly refused to step aside temporarily to allow an investigation into the botched scheme and McGuinness last week quit his position, accusing Foster of “deep-seated arrogance.”

Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive and assembly was formed under the 1998 Belfast Agreement that effectively ended three decades of political violence in Northern Ireland.

The sectarian voting patterns that have always characterized elections in this deeply divided society could remain intact in the next vote, bringing little prospect of a political stalemate.

If the two biggest parties are returned as expected but the deadlock remains, then a second election could be called if there is failure to form an executive within three weeks of the vote.

The other option would be direct rule of Northern Ireland from the British parliament in London.

In the Brexit referendum, 56 percent in Northern Ireland voted to stay in the EU. The DUP was the only one of the main political parties which voted to leave the bloc.

In the absence of a local assembly, there is growing concern in the province that Northern Ireland will have little or no voice in the forthcoming Brexit negotiations. AFP </s> DUBLIN—Northern Ireland’s shattered unity government will be dissolved next week to make way for an early election demanded by the coalition’s main Irish Catholic party, the secretary of state for the British territory announced Monday.

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire said the election to re-elect the Northern Ireland Assembly would be held March 2, six weeks after its dissolution.

Brokenshire’s declaration became inevitable once the Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party refused hours earlier to fill its vacated top post in the nearly decade-old coalition with the major British Protestant party, the Democratic Unionists.

The warring parties face a potentially brutal election that could determine whether their unity government — centerpiece of Northern Ireland’s peace accord — can ever be put back together again.

Brokenshire appealed to both camps not to make their relationship even worse with bitter accusations on the campaign trail. </s> Northern Ireland's shattered unity government will be dissolved next week to make way for an early election demanded by the coalition's main Irish Catholic party, the secretary of state for the British territory announced Monday. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire said the election to re-elect the Northern Ireland Assembly would be held March 2, six weeks after its dissolution.

Start the conversation, or Read more at WINK-TV Fort Myers. </s> Arlene Foster's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is expected to maintain its status as the largest party in Stormont as voters in Northern Ireland go to the polls on Thursday (2 March).

The unionists secured more than 29% of the vote at the assembly election in 2016, with republican party Sinn Fein winning 24% of the vote.

A LucidTalk poll, of more than 1,500 respondents between 24 and 26 February, estimated the DUP to be on 26.3% (-2.9%) and Sinn Fein to be on 25.3% (+1.3%). Polls opened at 9am GMT and will close at 10pm GMT.

The number of seats up for grabs in the Northern Irish Assembly has been reduced from 108 to 90, with the number of MLAs being determined by the single transferable vote system, a form of proportional representation.

The DUP won 38 seats in 2016, against Sinn Fein's 28, but the Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire was forced to dissolve the assembly and trigger a snap election after former deputy first minister, Martin McGuinness, resigned.

The top Sinn Fein politician made the move in protest over the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme, which could cost taxpayers £490m ($602m) over the next 20 years.

"This election is about the future of Northern Ireland and its political institutions," the senior Conservative told MPs.

"Not just the Assembly but all of the arrangements that have been put in place to reflect relationships throughout these islands.

"That is why it will be vital for the campaign to be conducted respectfully and in ways that do not simply exacerbate tensions and division.

"Once the campaign is over we need to be in a position to re-establish strong and stable devolved government in Northern Ireland."

The parties will have three weeks to agree on a power-sharing government under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. If a deal is not brokered, the UK government in Westminster could directly rule the province. </s> Britain's Cabinet minister for Northern Ireland says the territory's unravelling unity government must be dissolved and an early election will be held on March 2.

Secretary of State James Brokenshire told reporters he had no power to compel the opposite sides in Northern Ireland's nearly decade-old government coalition to keep working together as the territory's 1998 peace accord intended.

Mr Brokenshire expressed hope that the Irish Catholics of Sinn Fein and the British Protestants of the Democratic Unionist Party would repair their broken relationship following the vote, which comes just 10 months after a previous election.

He spoke hours after Sinn Fein refused to fill its top post in the two-party government, denounced its Democratic Unionist partners as corrupt and bigoted and called for a new vote.

Sinn Fein's Conor Murphy slammed Democratic Unionist Party's (DUP) "scandal after scandal" as his party refused to fill Martin McGuinness' position last year, triggering Northern Ireland elections. </s> BELFAST: The new Northern Ireland Assembly was taking shape on Friday (Mar 3) after snap elections that energised voters but ultimately could fail to resolve the deadlock that triggered them.

Tensions boiled over in January between the two parties in the power-sharing executive, collapsing the administration in the semi-autonomous British province.

But while early results showed that voters had surged to the polls, the outcome was likely to leave the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein as the two biggest parties.

If Sinn Fein still refuse to work with the DUP's leader Arlene Foster, who was Northern Ireland's first minister, then the assembly could be suspended and the province fully governed from London.

The first count results put the pro-British DUP almost neck-and-neck with Irish Republicans Sinn Fein.

The Protestant, conservative DUP was on 28.1 per cent, down 1.1 per cent from the May 2016 election. While the Catholic, socialist Sinn Fein on 27.9 per cent, a rise of 3.9 per cent.

With 32 out of 90 seats filled - Sinn Fein had 15, the DUP nine, four went to the cross-community Alliance Party and other groups took four.

Full results are not expected until Saturday due to the complexities of the proportional representation voting system.

Turnout figures from Thursday's polls showed the election got voters motivated.

The Electoral Office for Northern Ireland said 812,783 votes were cast, meaning a 64.8 percent turnout - up 9.9 per cent from May 2016.

It was the highest turnout since the first election after 1998 peace accords that re-established devolved government in Northern Ireland.

The election was triggered when Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness quit as deputy first minister over a costly, bungled green energy subsidy scheme rolled out by first minister Foster when she was economy minister.

Sinn Fein wanted her to step aside during an investigation.

Michelle O'Neill, who took over from the retiring McGuinness as Sinn Fein's leader in Northern Ireland, was elected on the first count in her constituency.

Foster topped the vote in her constituency but it was not enough to go through on the first round. Sinn Fein say they will not enter government if the DUP nominates Foster to become first minister again.

The parties have three weeks to strike some sort of deal, otherwise the Belfast legislature is likely to be suspended and its powers returned to London.

"After a brutal and divisive campaign there is no real expectation that the institutions will be up and running in the next few weeks," The Irish News newspaper said Friday in its editorial.

Besides the energy scheme scandal, old wounds between the two communities were also reopened by the United Kingdom's vote in June to leave the European Union, which the DUP supported but Sinn Fein opposed.

Britain has signalled its intention to leave the EU's customs union after Brexit, raising fears of a new hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which will remain in the EU.

London, Dublin and Brussels have all insisted they want to keep free movement across the Irish border - an arrangement dating from its creation in the 1920s.

But the possibility of a return to checkpoints has stirred memories of The Troubles, three decades of strife in Northern Ireland, in which more than 3,500 people were killed.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire announces a snap election is to take place on March 2 to elect members to the Northern Ireland Assembly after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin failed to agree on a power-sharing agreement.