US senate leader Chuck Schumer urges DUP to restore Stormont power-sharing

DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson at the Ireland Funds 31st National Gala. Credit: PA

The leader of the US senate has urged the DUP to restore power-sharing at a gala dinner attended by senior political figures from Northern Ireland.

Chuck Schumer praised the slow and "sometimes spluttering" progress made to achieve peace, before urging the Stormont institutions to be restored.

The US Senate Majority Leader also said he hoped the Windsor Framework "clears the way for the DUP to join Sinn Fein in a power-sharing agreement decided by the people of Northern Ireland in the last election, an amazing election".

He said: "I say to all parties in the north, but especially the DUP, let's get to the people's business."

Among the high-profile guests at the dinner were former Irish president Mary Robinson, PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne and the US Special Envoy for Northern Ireland Joe Kennedy III.

DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Sinn President Mary Lou McDonald and Vice President Michelle O'Neill, UUP Leader Doug Beattie, Alliance Leader Naomi Long and SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood were also in attendance.

During his address, Irish premier Leo Varadkar thanked the US for its response to the invasion of Ukraine, paid tribute to the late Congressman Brian Donnelly, and reflected on the upcoming 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Mr Varadkar said: "Twenty-five years on, Northern Ireland is a very different place.

"It has its problems and has yet to live up to the full promise of Good Friday 1998 but it is unquestioningly a much better place than it was and there are so many opportunities available to young people that were unimaginable for too long.

"In this St Patrick's week, let us remember that peace in Northern Ireland is one of the greatest and most significant success stories in American foreign policy.

"At critical junctures, the intervention of the United States drove the process forward.

"I believe the best way of celebrating a quarter of a century of peace on the island of Ireland, is by seizing this opportunity to make it a shining example to the world of what can be achieved when hope overcomes fear."

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