UK gives Northern Ireland a new deadline to revive its collapsed government as cost of living soars

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. government is giving Northern Ireland politicians until Feb. 8 to restore their collapsed regional government. The deadline extension was announced Tuesday. A boycott by Northern Ireland’s largest British unionist party has kept the power-sharing administration on ice for almost two years. The British government is legally obliged to call new Northern Ireland elections now that a previous deadline of Jan. 18 has passed. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he would bring a bill to Parliament on Wednesday to set a new date of Feb. 8.  Northern Ireland’s 1.9 million people have been without a functioning administration since the DUP walked out in February 2022 to protest post-Brexit trade rules.