THE day did not end, as at one point seemed likely, with the suspension of the government. But a series of political dramas in Northern Ireland on September 10th—the most dramatic of which was the withdrawal from government of Peter Robinson, the first minister—has deepened a crisis that had been building in the province for weeks.
It started in August with the Belfast murder of a prominent republican, Kevin McGuigan. Police have suggested his killing involved members of the IRA. It escalated sharply on September 9th, when detectives arrested three senior republicans as part of the murder inquiry, including Sinn Féin's chairman in Northern Ireland, Bobby Storey (all three were later released unconditionally). Mr Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), said that following the arrests he and his party could not stay in the coalition government, of which Sinn Féin is part. All but one of his ministers followed him.
Earlier in the day Mr Robinson had threatened to pull out of government completely if London did not suspend Northern Ireland’s Assembly, the power-sharing legislature that was established after a peace...Continue reading
via Brian Rushton, Crisis at Stormont as first minister Peter Robinson stands aside
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