MPs haven’t given up on introducing abortion and gay marriage to the region
Say “the Northern Ireland problem” to followers of British politics, and they are likely to think about Brexit. Do we need a customs border, and if so where should it be placed? Is there some hybrid arrangement that could satisfy all parties?
But there’s another problem – at any rate, it looks like a problem to supporters of same-sex marriage and abortion. Right now, the Northern Ireland government in Stormont is in deadlock. Under the power-sharing agreement, the major parties – the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Féin – must agree to work together. But since January 2017 they have been unable to do so, and are not exactly sounding conciliatory. “There is only one problem party,” said DUP leader Arlene Foster in August, “and that’s Sinn Féin.”
