The ministers wasted no time before pressing London for more money to patch up Northern Ireland’s creaking public services. The Democratic Unionist Party boycotted the administration to protest post-Brexit trading arrangements that it said undermined Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom. Under power-sharing rules established as part of Northern Ireland’s peace process, the administration in Belfast must include both British unionists and Irish nationalists. The DUP boycott left Northern Ireland’s 1.9 million people without a functioning administration to make key decisions as the cost of living soared and backlogs strained the creaking public health system. The U.K. government has agreed to give Northern Ireland more than 3 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) as part of an incentive to restore the government.

Source: ABC News February 05, 2024 19:56 UTC