Gerard Howlin: Can the union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain survive?

The political ground has shifted in the North since last Thursday’s election. The DUP-Sinn Féin duopoly took an electoral hit. For the first time in years, others are back on the main stage in the North.

Both larger parties have pressing reasons to re-establish the Stormont Assembly as a priority. There is as fair a wind for this now as there has been since an almost-done deal between the two was collapsed by the DUP in February 2018. The Assembly hasn’t functioned since Sinn Féin walked out in January 2017. Northern Irish voters rewarded both parties with the back of their hand.