IV 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 586 
Calling for the restoration of power-sharing in Northern Ireland. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 13, 2023 
Mr. LAWLER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Calling for the restoration of power-sharing in Northern 
Ireland. 
Whereas, on May 5, 2022, elections were held for the North-
ern Ireland Assembly, the region’s devolved legislature; 
Whereas, in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election, 
the Sinn Fein party won the largest number of seats, 27 
out of 90, entitling the party’s Vice President and former 
Deputy First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, to accede to the 
position of First Minister of Northern Ireland; 
Whereas, following the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly elec-
tion, the Democratic Unionist Party, which was the larg-
est party prior to the election, has effectively prevented 
the convening of the new Assembly, the Executive, and 
the operation of the North/South Ministerial Council; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:29 Jul 14, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR586.IH
HR586
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
•HRES 586 IH 
Whereas the Democratic Unionist Party has failed to make 
explicit its demands for reestablishing the power-sharing 
government in Northern Ireland, other than its protests 
against Northern Ireland Protocol, which was brokered 
by the United Kingdom independent of the devolved gov-
ernment bodies of the United Kingdom, including North-
ern Ireland, in response to the United Kingdom’s exit 
from the European Union and sets out post-Brexit ar-
rangements for Northern Ireland to ensure an open bor-
der on the island of Ireland and in the spirit of pro-
tecting the gains of the Northern Ireland peace process; 
Whereas the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein dis-
agree on the merits of the Northern Ireland Protocol, 
with Sinn Fein generally supportive of the Protocol as a 
necessary means to maintain an open border with the Re-
public of Ireland and to uphold the fundamental prin-
ciples underpinning the Good Friday Agreement; 
Whereas, on February 27, 2023, the United Kingdom and 
the European Union announced the Windsor Framework 
to address challenges posed by the Northern Ireland Pro-
tocol; 
Whereas the Windsor Framework was formally adopted by 
the United Kingdom and the European Union on March 
24, 2023, but the Democratic Unionist Party continues 
to undermine its full implementation; 
Whereas the Government of the United Kingdom continues to 
engage with all of the political parties in Northern Ire-
land, including the Democratic Unionist Party, to facili-
tate the establishment of a new power-sharing govern-
ment in Northern Ireland consistent with the results of 
the 2022 elections; 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:29 Jul 14, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR586.IH
HR586
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
•HRES 586 IH 
Whereas, during Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s speech for the 
25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, he stat-
ed that the Government of the United Kingdom ‘‘stand[s] 
ready to work with our partners in the Irish government 
and the local parties to ensure that the institutions are 
up and running again as soon as possible,’’ and that the 
Government of the United Kingdom ‘‘must keep working 
to persuade all parts of the community that returning to 
the institutions is the best path.’’; 
Whereas the Good Friday Agreement, adopted in 1998, es-
tablished the power-sharing government in Northern Ire-
land and institutions to facilitate communication and co-
operation among Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ire-
land, and the Government of the United Kingdom; 
Whereas blocking the work of the current Assembly and Ex-
ecutive in Northern Ireland as a bargaining chip to re-
solve an external policy matter between the Democratic 
Unionist Party and the United Kingdom violates the spir-
it and intent of the Good Friday Agreement’s power- 
sharing provisions and represents an undermining of the 
political process in Northern Ireland and a disserve to 
the Northern Ireland community that the Democratic 
Unionist Party claims to represent; 
Whereas the Good Friday Agreement and other past progress 
concerning Northern Ireland has been facilitated and 
moved forward with the support of civic institutions and 
leaders in the United States; and 
Whereas the appointment of a new U.S. Special Envoy to 
Northern Ireland for Economic Affairs on December 19, 
2022, reaffirms the United States Government’s commit-
ment to the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement, in-
cluding a power-sharing government, and the advance-
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:29 Jul 14, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR586.IH
HR586
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB
•HRES 586 IH 
ment of peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) calls on the Government of the United 
Kingdom to employ its influence to end the obstruc-
tion of Northern Ireland’s devolved governmental in-
stitutions by the Democratic Unionist Party and re-
store power-sharing in Northern Ireland as set out 
in the Good Friday Agreement; 
(2) calls on the Democratic Unionist Party to 
support in good faith the reestablishment of govern-
ment institutions in Northern Ireland, as obligated 
under the power-sharing arrangements made in the 
Good Friday Agreement; 
(3) calls on all participants of the Good Friday 
Agreement to honor their obligations to this agree-
ment in full; 
(4) supports the Government of the United 
Kingdom’s continued determination to bring about 
the restoration of the devolved institutions in North-
ern Ireland as set out in the Good Friday Agree-
ment; and 
(5) calls on the President and the U.S. Special 
Envoy to Northern Ireland to use their influence 
and longstanding commitment to the Good Friday 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
04:29 Jul 14, 2023
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\HR586.IH
HR586
pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB