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Higher education minister will become taoiseach in April after shock resignation of Leo VaradkarSimon Harris will become Ireland’s youngest prime minister after the leadership race in his Fine Gael party ended without any other candidates coming forward.The leadership became vacant after the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, announced his surprise resignation “for personal and political reasons” last week. Continue reading...

Rejection of proposed changes to constitution represent stunning defeat for government and country’s entire political establishmentIrish voters overwhelmingly reject proposed changes to constitutionProposals to reword Ireland’s 1937 constitution to get rid of outdated language about the role of women and the nature of the family have been comprehensively rejected in a double referendum.All the major political parties had supported a “Yes-Yes” vote, and the...

Countdown for republicans to potential Irish unification ticks louder as new first minister pledges to ‘serve everyone equally’ at StormontThe chamber’s ornate ceiling remained blue, red and gold, and Portland stone still held up the Stormont edifice, but the beaming Sinn Féin faces declared this was a historic moment for Irish nationalism.Michelle O’Neill became Northern Ireland’s first nationalist first minister in a day of...

Assembly members to gather at Stormont to restore power sharing under Sinn Féin first ministerNorthern Ireland’s devolved government is to reconvene on Saturday after a two-year boycott, with Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill making history as the first nationalist first minister.Assembly members (AMs) are to gather at Parliament Buildings at Stormont at 1pm to restore power-sharing institutions that collapsed exactly two years ago. Continue reading...

‘UK internal market’ to be created to ease unionist fears over de facto border in the Irish SeaNew rules to smooth post-Brexit trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland have been unveiled by the government as part of a deal with the Democratic Unionist party that will restore the Stormont executive and install a Sinn Féin first minister.A command paper titled Safeguarding the Union...

Sixteen unions take action as collapsed Stormont leaves pay for nurses, teachers and road workers stagnantPublic sector workers have launched what is being billed as one of the biggest strikes in Northern Ireland’s history amid a dispute over pay and political deadlock.Sixteen unions representing nurses, teachers, transport workers, civil servants and other sectors started a joint action on Thursday that was expected to cause...