Belfast to end 2-year boycott after deal with London

The devolved government of the United Kingdom province of Northern Ireland could be back at work by the weekend, following a deal that looks to have ended two years of boycott and paralysis.

Details of the deal, between the UK central government and the Democratic Unionist Party, or DUP, a major political party in Northern Ireland, are set to be unveiled on Wednesday.

It is aimed at assuaging the DUP's fears that flared after the UK left the European Union, when the border between Northern Ireland and its EU neighbor, the Republic of Ireland, became more open than borders between the rest of the UK and the EU, and when checks were introduced on goods sent between the UK mainland and Northern Ireland.

The issue was important to the DUP because as a so-called unionist party, it believes Northern Ireland's future lies within the UK and it is sensitive to the province being treated differently than other parts of the UK.

The DUP's leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, said the deal was sufficient for his party to end its boycott of the devolved government, which can only function if both unionist parties and separatist parties participate.

He said the deal means checks on goods moving between the UK mainland and Northern Ireland will end, and that the province will no longer follow EU laws, protecting "the Acts of Union, which guarantees unfettered access for Northern Ireland business to the rest of the UK".

Chris Heaton-Harris, the UK government's Northern Ireland secretary, agreed the deal would "secure Northern Ireland's place in the UK's internal market".

Following the UK's exit from the EU, goods continued to be shipped easily across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as both the UK and the EU wanted to avoid the establishment of a hard border on the island of Ireland, which had been the focus of violence in the past between separatists and unionists.

Lawmakers in the central UK Parliament are expected to vote on the deal on Thursday, in which they are widely expected to support it. If the vote is passed, the devolved Northern Ireland government could be functioning on Friday or Saturday.

The government will be led by Michelle O'Neill from the separatist Sinn Fein party. It will be the first time the devolved government has been led by a separatist, and Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald said the aspiration of breaking away from the UK and forming a united Ireland now seems to be within "touching distance".