Northern Ireland’s political leaders agree to power-sharing talks, following journalist’s murder

Imagine if we, here in British Columbia, didn’t have a functioning provincial government. Imagine if, for whatever reason, the MLAs couldn’t come together to agree a way to figure out who was in power, and instead there was a deadlock where the legislature simply didn’t function.

That’s what it’s been like in Northern Ireland for more than two years now. It’s a world record for the longest period without a functioning government.

The political spectrum there is a little bit different - instead of functioning along conservative and liberal lines, voters’ allegiances are more commonly based on whether the party is Nationalist - meaning it ultimately wants Northern Ireland to join the Republic of Ireland, or Unionist - meaning they want Northern Ireland to remain as part of the UK.

After two long years without a government, the Nationalist and Unionist leaders have agreed to come together. To start fresh talks and try to get their legislative assembly back up and running for the people of Northern Ireland.

And it’s hoped there could be an agreement in place by mid-July.

So this is significant. To tell us more, I spoke with Gavan Reilly, the political correspondent for Virgin Media Television in Ireland.

Guest: Gavan Reilly

Political correspondent for Virgin Media Television in Ireland

Imagine if we, here in British Columbia, didn’t have a functioning provincial government. Imagine if, for whatever reason, the MLAs couldn’t come together to agree a way to figure out who was in power, and instead there was a deadlock where the legislature simply didn’t function.

That’s what it’s been like in Northern Ireland for more than two years now. It’s a world record for the longest period without a functioning government.

The political spectrum there is a little bit different - instead of functioning along conservative and liberal lines, voters’ allegiances are more commonly based on whether the party is Nationalist - meaning it ultimately wants Northern Ireland to join the Republic of Ireland, or Unionist - meaning they want Northern Ireland to remain as part of the UK.

After two long years without a government, the Nationalist and Unionist leaders have agreed to come together. To start fresh talks and try to get their legislative assembly back up and running for the people of Northern Ireland.

And it’s hoped there could be an agreement in place by mid-July.

So this is significant. To tell us more, I spoke with Gavan Reilly, the political correspondent for Virgin Media Television in Ireland.

Guest: Gavan Reilly

Political correspondent for Virgin Media Television in Ireland