After the failed formation of a government in Northern Ireland, criticism of the British central government is growing.

The leader of the main Protestant DUP party, Jeffrey Donaldson, urged London to focus on solving the problem rather than zigzagging around a snap election. "It is now clear that the head of ministers, the prime minister, has not decided how to proceed," Donaldson said, as reported by the Belfast Telegraph newspaper.

British Northern Ireland Minister Chris Heaton-Harris announced on Friday that he would call new elections in the province. Contrary to the expectations he had fueled, he initially did not name a date. The deputy leader of the strongest Catholic party, Sinn Fein, Michelle O'Neill, therefore accused Heaton-Harris of a "bizarre about-face". Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin warned that elections would only lead to further polarization. First, the democratic institutions must be restored, Martin demanded.

No agreement, no government

Because the DUP and Sinn Fein were unable to agree on the prescribed unity government of both denominational camps by a certain deadline, there is now no government in office. The regional parliament is no longer functional. O'Neill criticized that the people of Northern Ireland were left in the dark.

The Sinn Fein party, which is striving for reunification with EU member Ireland, was the strongest party for the first time in May's election. However, the DUP, which advocates union with Great Britain, has so far refused a joint government as stipulated in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. As an ultimatum, she calls for the lifting of special Brexit rules for Northern Ireland that Great Britain and the EU had agreed on.