Northern Ireland is on track for its ‘moment of truth’

Dublin: Northern Ireland is on track to restore its power-sharing government after the British and Irish governments tabled proposals to break a three-year deadlock.

The plans agreed between Irish nationalists and pro-British unionists include giving more weight to the Irish language in the region and represent the basis for a deal to revive Northern Ireland's executive and Assembly, Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, said.

"On balance we believe there is a basis upon which the assembly and executive can re-established in a fair and balanced way," Foster, who was First Minister before the collapse, said.

Leader of the Democratic Unionist Party Arlene Foster in December.Credit:PA/AP

The language part of the deal would see the protection of the Irish language as well as the Ulster Scots dialect. Business at the assembly may be conducted in both languages as well as English, with a simultaneous translation system as seen in the EU institutions, the Belfast Telegraph reported. A translation hub for government and an office of identity and cultural expression would also be established.

The Assembly is set to be recalled on Friday, a development which would end a deadlock stretching back to February 2017, when it fell over who was to blame for a renewable energy initiative that spiralled far over-budget.

The institution was a key piece of the architecture of the 1998 Good Friday peace deal, which largely ended three decades of violence in the region.

The Irish nationalist Sinn Fein party said it would study the new proposals before giving a formal response.

"There is no need, and no public patience, for more process and more discussions," Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said. "It is time for political leadership and a collective commitment to making politics work for people."

Known as Stormont, the Assembly could yet play a central role in shaping the outcome of Brexit. The European Union and UK struck a deal which effectively leaves Northern Ireland in the EU's custom union and much of the single market to avoid a hard border with Ireland. However, the assembly will regularly have a vote on the arrangement, with the first ballot set for four years after the end of the transition period.

The British Northern Ireland Secretary, Julian Smith, said in a statement that it was a "moment of truth" for the peace process, and that the proposals are "a fair and balanced deal".

Bloomberg, with The Age/Sydney Morning Herald

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