Sunak Claims N. Ireland Win, But Voters Still Blame Tories for Brexit Strife
- Nationalist first leader has renewed talk of a united Ireland
- But UK PM tries to shift attention to local issues like NHS
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.