Editorials

Northern Ireland election results: DUP handed pivotal role

It will become clear whether Sinn Féin has abandoned powersharing to concentrate on its goal of a united Ireland

DUP leader Arlene Foster speaking in Belfast on Friday after British prime minister Theresa May announced she would work with “friends and allies” in the DUP to enable her to lead a government. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
DUP leader Arlene Foster speaking in Belfast on Friday after British prime minister Theresa May announced she would work with “friends and allies” in the DUP to enable her to lead a government. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
Sat Jun 10 2017 - 00:04

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has been handed a pivotal role in the new House of Commons. Whether it can use that position to defend the interests of Northern Ireland in a meaningful way will be a real test of its political ability.

Party leader Arlene Foster, who fought a dreadful campaign in the recent Assembly elections, has been given something to smile about with her party's bounce back in the general election. Not only has the DUP gained two extra seats; it has pushed up its share of the vote by a significant margin, putting some clear blue water between itself and Sinn Féin in the battle to be the biggest party in the North.

Foster has reacted to the results by saying the union is safe but the real test will be whether she can use her new position of influence to have the North’s powersharing institutions restored.

The DUP has expressed a commitment to those institutions. It is also clearly in the interests of the incoming Conservative minority government to have a workable devolved administration in Belfast, as it will have enough on its plate without having to impose direct rule from Westminster.

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However, even if the DUP and the Conservatives are prepared to make the compromises necessary to restore the powersharing Executive, it will not happen unless Sinn Féin cooperates. By effectively turning the Westminster elections into a staging post in its campaign for a Border poll, Sinn Féin managed to eliminate its nationalist rival the SDLP from Westminster, but it also prompted a significant rise in the DUP vote.

Sinn Féin's adherence to the outdated policy of abstentionism has helped to put the DUP into a stronger position in Westminster by effectively lowering the threshold for a government majority. In coming weeks it will become clear whether Sinn Féin is genuinely interested in participating in the governance of Northern Ireland or whether it has abandoned that project to concentrate on its long-term goal of a united Ireland. If it is the latter the Irish Government will have to reassess its long-term policy on the North.