Michelle O'Neill, Vice President of Sinn Féin, hopes her party will receive the most further pressure on the DUP. Credit: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Northern Ireland will hold local elections next month for the first time since the collapse of the executive in February 2022.
As long as only councilors are up for election in this vote, the results will be decisive for whether the DUP abandons the boycott of Stormont from across the Irish Sea border and accepts Rishi Sunak's new Brexit deal.
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Here, The Telegraph lays out everything you need to know before the election.
When will the Northern Ireland council elections take place in May?
Council elections will take place on 18 May this year, two weeks after elections elsewhere in the UK. They were postponed so as not to overlap with the king's coronation.
Elections use the single transferable vote system, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference if they so choose.
Which councils are up for election?
Northern Ireland will elect 462 councilors to 11 councils.
The Soviets are Antrim and Newtownabbie; Ards and North Down; Arma City, Banbridge and Craigavon; Belfast City; Causeway Coast and Glens; Derry City and Straban, Fermanagh and Omagh; Lisburn and Castlereagh City, Mid and East Antrim; Middle Ulster; and Newry, Morne and Down.
Election will affect whether Geoffrey Donaldson and the DUP drop their opposition to the new Brexit deal and return to power — sharing Photo: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images Why is this election important to the North American Assembly?
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refuses to return to power-sharing in Stormont despite Rishi Sunak's new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.
The results of the local elections will affect whether the DUP lifts its boycott of the Irish Sea border, which has been ongoing since February 2022.
Polls show that loyalists and hardliners are abandoning the DUP in favor of Ulster Hard Traditional Vote (TUV), which is a virulent anti-protocol and anti-Windsor framework.
The DUP is expected to delay any decision to return to Stormont and indirectly support Mr. Sunak's new Windsor structure until local elections.
If the DUP robs TUV of huge support, it will most likely harden its stance. But if all goes well, Sir Geoffrey Donaldson, leader of the party, may dare to return to the Assembly.
When was the last NI vote and what happened?
The DUP withdrew from Stormont last February, ahead of the Northern Ireland Assembly elections in May.
Sinn Féin won this election, defeating the DUP and becoming the largest political party in Northern Ireland for the first time in the region's history.
Victory means that Sinn Féin is eligible for the post of First Minister for the first time.
However, the DUP, the largest unionist party, has refused to return to Stormont, which operates on the basis of a mandatory power sharing between the largest unionist and nationalist parties.
How many seats are there in the Northern Ireland Assembly?
There are 90 seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Sinn Féin won 27 seats and the DUP 25, losing three seats from the previous elections.
The center party «Alliance», which does not consider itself to be either a trade union or a nationalist, showed good results and won 17 seats.
The two parties that played a decisive role in the Good Friday Agreement have been marginalized. The Ulster Unionist Party won nine seats, while the centre-left SDLP won only eight.
The hard-line union TUV took the only place, like the left before Profit.
The Windsor Framework Key Points When can we expect results?
Counting starts on May 19, the day after Election Day.
When will Stormont be able to sit down again?
It depends on the DUP, which is split between its hard-line MPs in Westminster, and the MLA in Northern Ireland, who prefer to return to Stormont.
The DUP cannot prevent the implementation of a new Brexit deal in Northern Ireland, but it could paralyze any devolved government.
There have been speculations that unions could return to power-sharing in the Autumn, but any decision will come from local elections.
It will also depend on whether the government and Brussels can propose any changes or clarifications to the DUP on the agreement they made in February, which both have so far ruled out.
Meanwhile, the DUP is under pressure from other parties in Northern Ireland to return to Stormont.
This risks alienating voters, outraged by the delay in action to reduce NHS waiting lists and support for the crisis cost of living, but polls have shown that loyalists and some trade unionists are in favor of the hardest possible line on the Irish Sea border.
The government has set a deadline in January, which has already been pushed back several times, for DUP to return to Stormont.
If the deadline is missed, a new Stormont election may be called to break the deadlock.
However, the DUP is unlikely to lose its status as the largest trade union party, so it can continue the boycott after this vote if it wants to.
DUP will lose some support by accepting a new Brexit deal and returning to power-sharing. The question is how much and whether they will decide to take the hit.
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