Unionist Paul Givan, new Chief Minister of Northern Ireland

Unionist Paul Givan, 39, has been designated as
new chief minister of Northern Ireland. Givan will take over from Arlene Foster on Monday, who submitted her resignation as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) a month and a half ago, after an internal revolt over tensions caused by Brexit and the controversial Irish Protocol.

The ultra-conservative Edwin Poots succeeded Foster as party leader, but he himself has preferred to divide responsibility and propose Givan as chief minister in order to focus on the internal crisis of the DUP, which has fallen to 16% in the polls and lost dozens of militants in recent weeks due to internal divisions.

Givan's appointment has yet to receive the go-ahead from Sinn
Fein, the Republican party that shares the unity government, as stipulated by the Good Friday Peace Agreement. It is assumed that the leader of Sinn Fein and deputy chief minister, Michelle O'Neill, will agree to share the work of government with Paul Givan from now on, after his conflictive relationship with Arlene Foster, which created a power vacuum of more than two years in Northern Ireland.

“This position comes with enormous responsibility,” Givan admitted.
at the time of the announcement. “We have a huge to-do list and we need to get down to business.. What we need now is an effective and smooth transition.”.

The rise of Givan, until now a local parliamentarian for Lagan Valley, occurs at a particularly delicate moment, in the midst of a dialectical war between the European Union and the United Kingdom over the Irish Protocol.

London has accused Brussels of inflexibility when it comes to applying the Brexit agreements, and the EU has warned that it will take action if the British government continues to take unilateral decisions to extend the grace periods that affect products destined for Northern Ireland.

The creation of the closest thing to an internal customs office in the Irish Sea, precisely to avoid a return to the hard border within the island, has caused great tensions in recent months and has revived clashes between unionists and republicans in the streets Belfast.

Arlene Foster's tepid stance as leader of the DUP led to its downfall, at a time of serious internal unionist crisis, with the sudden rise of Jim Allister's Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) and the troubles of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). , once the majority force in Northern Ireland, which has also just elected a new leader, Doug Beattie.

On the occasion of the imminent G7 summit in Cornwall, US President Joe Biden will express to “premier” Boris Johnson his growing concern about the future of the Ulster peace process.

Johnson has so far been accused of failing to get personally involved and allowing the explosive situation in Northern Ireland following Brexit.

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