Europe

Home page

Europe

Protestants accept deal to save Northern Ireland govt

05 February 2010 04:23 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Northern Ireland’s major Protestant party says it has unanimously backed a compromise plan with Catholics to save their power-sharing government, APA reports citing â€œAssociated Pressâ€.

Democratic Unionist Party leader Peter Robinson, leader of the troubled 2 1/2-year-old coalition with Catholics, announced the breakthrough early Friday after 10 days and nights of negotiations. The Catholics of Sinn Fein had already announced their support for the still-confidential plan.

Robinson said his party’s lawmakers "have unanimously supported the way forward. ... This is a sound deal and one that I can recommend."

The prime ministers of Britain and Ireland, Gordon Brown and Brian Cowen, are expected to publish full details of the new power-sharing pact later Friday.