Sunday 8 May 2022 12:11 AM Boris Johnson warned about Sinn Fein's threat to the union trends now
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Boris Johnson was warned last night that the UK was facing its greatest threat for centuries as Sinn Fein achieved a historic win in Northern Ireland.
In a dramatic end to the Stormont elections, the republican party overtook the Democratic Unionists (DUP) to be the largest party in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
With Sinn Fein on 27 seats out of 90, the party’s Vice President Michelle O’Neill will now be entitled to become Northern Ireland’s First Minister, an unprecedented move for a nationalist politician. She hailed a ‘new era’ in the politics of the province.
With Sinn Fein on 27 seats out of 90, the party’s Vice President Michelle O’Neill will now be entitled to become Northern Ireland’s First Minister, an unprecedented move for a nationalist politician. Ms O'Neill, left, is pictured with former Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, centre and former Sinn Fein President, Gerry Adams
But former Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith said last night that the result, coupled with the SNP’s victory in Scotland, means ‘our cherished Union has never been under greater threat. We now have two parts of the UK where political parties dedicated to its break-up hold the whip hand.’
Mr Smith urged Brussels to ‘engage directly’ with politicians in Belfast to reform the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol which sets up a border in the Irish Sea for some goods entering the province.
However, there were also fears of a fresh UK showdown with Brussels over the Protocol which has been at the
