DPA/London
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Northern Ireland yesterday and met the leaders of the power-sharing government that were appointed at the weekend after a three-year impasse.
Johnson was received in Belfast by Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s leader in Northern Ireland.
Foster was reappointed on Saturday as first minister, the post she had held until the power-sharing government collapsed in January 2017.
Her party wishes Northern Ireland to remain in union with Britain, while Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein seeks a united Ireland.
O’Neill is deputy first minister.
Johnson said he hoped that the “goodwill and compromise and hard work on all sides” would contribute to “a very bright future”, Britain’s Press Association reported.
The health service is expected to be a top priority for the Northern Ireland government, following several recent strikes by nurses.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar also visited Belfast and said the 1998 Good Friday Agreement was back up and running again.
Varadkar was referring to the agreement that underpins Northern Ireland’s fragile peace process.
He also discussed co-operation with Johnson, noting the need for a new, post-Brexit trade deal.
Police arrest over 1,000 at Russia protests backing jailed Kremlin foe Navalny
UK doctors call for shorter gap between Pfizer vaccine doses
Russia detains dozens of Navalny supporters at anti-Putin protests
Russia wages online battle against TikTok and YouTube
German Covid death toll rises above 50,000
Three dead in Russian mine blast
Navalny, anticipating arrest, planned protests to force Kremlin to release him, ally says
A sick couple rushed to marry on UK Covid ward. Now they have a second chance
Hospitals like ‘war zones’ as UK virus toll soars
There are no comments.