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Ireland’s prime minister warns Theresa May over deal with DUP | |
(about 2 hours later) | |
Ireland’s Prime Minister has issued a warning to Theresa May over her plans to do a deal with the DUP to prop up a Tory minority government. | |
Enda Kenny, who has been Taoiseach since 2011, said he had indicated his “concern” to the Prime Minister over the plan. | |
Mr Kenny suggested that the arrangement, if poorly handled, could jeopardise the peace process in Northern Ireland. | Mr Kenny suggested that the arrangement, if poorly handled, could jeopardise the peace process in Northern Ireland. |
He also raised concerns about the lack of a nationalist voice in favour of a united Ireland at Westminster – where the SDLP is now wiped out and Sinn Fein does not take its seats on principle. | |
He tweeted on Sunday: “Spoke with Prime Minister May – indicated my concern that nothing should happen to put Good Friday agreement at risk, and [the] absence of nationalist voice in Westminster.” | |
The DUP is the biggest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly and is currently engaged in a negotiations after the collapse of the power-sharing administration that runs the Northern Ireland Executive. | |
Mr Kenny is the outgoing Taoiseach and will soon be replaced by Ireland’s Taoiseach-elect Leo Varadkar, who won a Fine Gael internal party election earlier this month. Mr Varadkar is set to be confirmed by the Irish parliament, the Dáil, in the coming week. | |
The Conservatives are currently in negotiations with the DUP to prop up a minority government with a supply-and-confidence arrangement. | |
Under such a deal the Tories would give the DUP concessions in exchange for them passing the Queen’s Speech and budgets. | Under such a deal the Tories would give the DUP concessions in exchange for them passing the Queen’s Speech and budgets. |
The Conservatives will be reliant on DUP support to pass anything through Parliament, giving them an effective veto. | The Conservatives will be reliant on DUP support to pass anything through Parliament, giving them an effective veto. |
There are concerns that such concessions could be related to the political crisis in Stormont, where the British government is supposed to be a neutral broker between the unionist and nationalist sides. | |
The deal comes after voters unexpectedly rejected the Conservatives at the general election, denying Ms May a majority in the House of Commons and defying most pollsters’ expectations. | The deal comes after voters unexpectedly rejected the Conservatives at the general election, denying Ms May a majority in the House of Commons and defying most pollsters’ expectations. |