Sunak claims N. Ireland win, but voters still blame Tories for Brexit strife

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged Northern Ireland’s political leaders to get on with resolving day-to-day issues and put aside constitutional questions about the region’s place in the UK, following the appointment of Irish nationalist Michelle O’Neill as first minister over the weekend.

Sunak held meetings with unionist and republican parties Monday during a visit to Belfast to mark a rare political victory for the prime minister, who last week reached a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party to end its two-year boycott of Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government over post-Brexit trading rules.

The restoration of the region’s devolved government is effectively the last outstanding issue stemming from the UK’s divorce from the European Union. Sunak’s trip is designed to draw a distinction with predecessors, especially Boris Johnson, who famously claimed to have “got Brexit done” but whose deal has required two rounds of overhauling to get the DUP to end their protest.

But the political upside is likely to be limited for Sunak. The majority of voters in Northern Ireland wanted to stay in the EU, meaning the ructions in the region’s politics since the 2016 referendum are widely blamed on the British government and Sunak’s governing Conservative Party. 

Then there is the question of Northern Ireland’s budget squeeze, after 170,000 public sector workers went on strike last month. Sunak’s deal with the DUP including a £3.3 billion spending boost, of which £600 million is allocated to lifting wages. Already political parties complain the money is not enough to end a crisis that includes the UK’s longest National Health Service waiting times.

“This place has been starved of public services funding for over a decade because of the Tories in London, we can do much better than that,” O’Neill told the Press Association. Sunak countered that the funding is “significant and generous” and will support “high-quality public services.”

The criticism of Sunak is echoed across the UK, where local councils are warning of bankruptcies and the Conservative Party — which trails in the polls ahead of a general election expected in the second half of the year — is struggling to win over voters battered by an historic cost-of-living crisis.

In Northern Ireland, the risk is that budget pressure exacerbates the challenge in keeping power-sharing up and running. That is the context for Sunak urging leaders to focus on fixing everyday issues.

“That’s what everyone’s priority is now,” Sunak said. “It is not constitutional change, it is delivering on the day-to-day things that matter to people.”

His deal with the DUP threatens to put the UK government on a collision course with O’Neill in Northern Ireland as well as Sunak’s counterpart, Leo Varadkar, in the Republic of Ireland. That’s because in trying to appease the unionists by legislating to emphasize Northern Ireland’s place in the UK, the British government has annoyed those who see a united Ireland as the future.

Sinn Fein’s O’Neill, whose appointment is an historic milestone in a region traditionally controlled by unionist parties loyal to the UK, said over the weekend she sees a vote on a united Ireland within 10 years, while Varadkar has said he sees reunification happening in his lifetime. Both scenarios run counter to the language in the UK’s new legislation, which gives short shrift to the idea of a poll.

“I have some reservations about what’s in the command paper and in particular with the more negative language around the all-island economy,” Varadkar told reporters during a visit to Belfast on Monday. But he did not engage with questions about Irish reunification. “I don’t think today is a day for that.”

“The focus for now and certainly for the next few months is getting the executive up and running, bedding in ministers,” he said. He said he’d had a “very good meeting” with Sunak.

That line echoed Sunak’s. Yet the fact both leaders chose not to appear together in public in Belfast — despite meeting for private talks — will bolster the view that they see things moving in different directions.

The British government is also annoyed that Dublin decided to take the UK to court over separate legislation that aims to deal with legacy issues left over from decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland known as ‘The Troubles.’

“Ireland is always going to be a close and valued partner and friend of the United Kingdom. That’s always been the case and will remain the case,” Sunak said when asked about why he hadn’t appeared with Varadkar. “Whilst we deeply regret the decision that the Irish Government made on legacy, we disagree with it, but it is important we continue to co-operate where we can.”