N.Ireland First Minister Foster Announces Resignation

Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster on Wednesday announced her resignation, at a tense time in the divided British province

Belfast, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Apr, 2021 ) :Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster on Wednesday announced her resignation, at a tense time in the divided British province.

The 50-year-old politician said she would step down as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) on May 28 and as first minister at the end of June, calling it "the privilege of my life" to have served Northern Ireland's people.

"I have sought to lead the party and Northern Ireland away from division and towards a better path," she said in a statement.

Her resignation arrives in the midst of a growing crisis for unionists in the province.

Earlier this month Northern Ireland witnessed more than a week of rioting -- with at least 88 police officers injured -- as pro-UK unionist tempers frayed over post-Brexit arrangements.

Foster stepped down after reports that 75 percent of DUP lawmakers signed a letter calling for a leadership contest.

Local media reported discontent over her decision to despatch a DUP member to a meeting with Irish officials, despite a party-wide belief that such summits should be boycotted over Brexit.

Rancour was also brewing among backbenchers over her recent abstention from a vote on gay conversion therapy, the news Letter paper reported Tuesday.

The DUP is the largest party of the unionist community in Northern Ireland, where tensions have been growing over a post-Brexit "protocol" for the region.

The new arrangements, which came into effect in January, effectively keep the province inside the European customs union and single market for goods, with new checkpoints at Northern Irish ports.

Many hardline unionists believe the arrangements are warping the position of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, thereby increasing the likelihood of it joining the Republic of Ireland.

DUP lawmakers held a powerful kingmaker role in the last UK government, and were capable of blocking a Brexit withdrawal which entailed special arrangements for their territory.

But after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a landslide election in December 2019 they were powerless to prevent it.