The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has said it will return to power-sharing in a vote that is set to end the party’s two-year boycott of Stormont.
The deal was announced at 01:00 GMT on Tuesday morning by party leader Sir Jeffery Donaldson who said the deal would be subject to new legislation being passed in parliament.
The news broke following a five-hour long meeting of the party executive, held in County Down, which descended into chaos. The meeting of the 130-strong executive was subject to leaks to loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, who live-tweeted the meeting, including a speech by Sir Jeffrey.
Bryson, a long-standing opponent of the Executive’s return, was given the information by a “senior” DUP executive member who was wearing a wire, the BBC has reported.
“The member used the recording device to relay the speech live to loyalist activist Jamie Bryson,” the BBC reports, adding that party leadership believed the information was being leaked by mobile phone and ordered all phones to be turned off.
“Senior people in the DUP felt so exercised about this and felt that this was such a defining moment, that they took the step that they did,” Mr Bryson said.
He added: “Obviously I wasn’t in the room, the venue clearly wasn’t bugged by some hidden device so there was clearly senior people – plural – within the DUP who felt so strongly about this that they took this extraordinary, unprecedented step.”
Immediately after the meeting ended, Sir Jeffrey expressed his disappointment that a member of the party’s executive had “betrayed” the party.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday morning, Sir Jeffrey said: “We will only be able to move after the government faithfully delivers on the implementation of its legal and other commitments.”
The deal was welcomed by Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris, who said the government would deliver on their part of the deal.
Mr Heaton-Harris said on Tuesday afternoon that it was a “significant” step and thanked Sir Jeffrey and colleagues for their leadership on the issue, adding that it was never in doubt that Sir Jeffrey and his party’s concern was for securing Northern Ireland’s place in the union.
The details of the proposals are to be published tomorrow, the Secretary of State said, adding he looked forward to the restoration of the institutions at Stormont.
Sir Jeffrey has insisted that the deal will remove all post-Brexit checks on goods coming into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
Northern Ireland parties are meeting today at Stormont Castle to further discuss the matters and finalise preparations for government.