Tuesday’s Top Stories: Stormont set to return; RSA staff request declined

Powersharing return

Northern Ireland: Stormont powersharing set to return after DUP backs deal

The big news this morning is that, after a two-year hiatus, Powersharing in Northern Ireland is set to return after the DUP party executive backed a British government deal aimed at addressing its concerns over post-Brexit trade barriers.

Barring last minute hitches, the return of Stormont is potentially hugely significant for residents of Northern Ireland where billions in additional funding have been in limbo as a result of the impasse and issues such as pay awards to public sector workers have been stalled due to the lack of a functioning government.

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said he would drop the blockade on devolution at Stormont once the government implemented the various legislative assurances and other measures it has offered his party.

Mr Donaldson told reporters in a post-1am press conference in Co Down that he had secured the “decisive” backing of the 130-strong party executive during a marathon meeting on Monday night.

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• You can follow live coverage of the DUP’s decision with our rolling coverage.

Analysis: The DUP’s decision: what has the UK offered to try to restart Stormont?: UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has put forward a plan to try to bring unionists onside - but like everything with Brexit it is complicated and controversial.

Top News Stories

• RSA denied extra funding to counter rise in road deaths: A €6 million funding request from the Road Safety Authority to hire additional staff as part of an expansion of its road safety media campaigns in a bid to reverse a surge in road deaths in 2023 was declined by the Department of Transport.
• Schools must record all bullying incidents under new guidelines: Schools will be obliged to record all incidents of bullying behaviour for the first time under new rules to be published shortly.
• New underground electricity cable routes for Dublin revealed: The first three routes selected for the replacement of underground electricity cables across Dublin, under a city-wide construction programme expected to take up to five years, have been revealed by EirGrid.
• Two new countries to be added to ‘safe’ list amid plan to speed up asylum applications: Algeria and Botswana will be added to the list of “safe countries” of origin as part of wider Government plans to subject more international protection applicants to faster processing times.
• Murder investigation expected to begin after human remains found during search for missing Cork man: Gardaí in Cork are expected to launch a murder investigation on Tuesday as they anticipate that a postmortem will confirm that human remains found in east Cork are those of a man whom they fear was abducted and killed last year.
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