UK to Delay N.Ireland Election in Bid to Reach Deal Over Brexit
- Power-sharing in Belfast has been suspended for a year
- Government wants unionists in region to back any deal with EU
The closed Stormont Estate in Belfast.
Photographer: Paul Faith/AFP/Getty Images
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The UK plans to extend the deadline for the formation of a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland by a year, opening up a window to secure a deal with the European Union on the region’s post-Brexit status.
The government will introduce legislation to “create more time for the parties to work together and return to government” while UK-EU discussions continue, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said in a statement Thursday.