What Must Still Happen To Restore Northern Ireland Power Sharing

Northern Ireland's political institutions are on the cusp of being restored after two years dormant, but there is some nervousness within UK Government about the days ahead.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the breakthrough that some people thought might never happen finally materialised when Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), announced that he had secured the approval he needed to take his party back into the region's power sharing government. 

Following meetings in Belfast today, the UK Government will publish details of its multi-part deal with the DUP on Wednesday in the form of legal text and an explanatory command paper.

PoliticsHome understands that ministers believe they can implement the necessary legislation within days, paving the way for Stormont to return as soon as the end of this week, assuming there are no hitches in the meantime. 

But while last night's announcement represented a major step towards the return of power sharing, in Government there is still some nervousness about the days ahead as Donaldson and ministers in Westminster prepare for the final push to get their deal over the line.

Even the otherwise triumphant early hours press conference saw the MP for Lagan Valley address expectant media who were already on a knife-edge, following an extraordinary, hours-long meeting during which his presentation to DUP members about the details of the deal with the UK Government was apparently leaked to ultra loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson. 

The leak sparked fury and there were fears about how the embarrassment would affect Donaldson's bid to take his party back into power sharing. That his planned statement to the press ended up being more than two hours late did