IRELAND :  Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has made good on its promise to obstruct the return of the power-sharing government.

The DUP lawmakers abstained in a vote on the selection of a Speaker in the Northern Ireland Assembly (Stormont) on Friday, causing it to collapse, according to Xinhua report. Other elected members pleaded with them to let the assembly and its cabinet of ministers function. 

It could take up to six months for new elections to be held unless the DUP changes its mind.  There will be no functioning executive cabinet or Assembly in the meanwhile.

Last week's elections gave the pro-Republican Sinn Fein party a majority of votes and, for the first time, the power to designate the administration's First Minister. The DUP, who previously held the majority in the assembly, now has the power to designate a Deputy First Minister. The Assembly and its executive cabinet are unable to function unless a Speaker, First Minister, and Deputy First Minister are all in place, according to the rules.

The Northern Ireland Protocol, a trade agreement reached by London and the European Union (EU) to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, is fiercely opposed by the DUP.

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