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| - Northern Ireland's rival parties neared a power-sharing government on Friday, three years after the last administration collapsed and left the volatile province vulnerable in the face of Brexit. A draft deal for how the new executive would work was released late on Thursday by the UK's Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith and Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney. "We have put in place a series of what I would regard as very fair compromises to move things forward," Coveney said on Friday. "Now it's over to the parties and hopefully all five of them will decide that on the basis of this document, they can commit to functioning government again." The region's devolved assembly at Stormont has been without a government since January 2017, following a scandal over misspending. Numerous rounds of increasingly acrimonious talks failed to find an agreement and basic services were left unattended -- eventually sparking workers' strikes. The latest talks were launched in the wake of a December 12 general election in Britain that stripped the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of its powerful voice in the UK parliament. Republican party Sinn Fein, which does not send its lawmakers to London because it does not recognise British rule, also saw its overall voter share slip. Analysts attributed both parties' losses to voter frustration at their inability to reach a compromise that could let a government in Belfast take care of the region's daily needs. DUP leader Arlene Foster called the draft agreement "fair and balanced". "It does of course bring forward Irish language legislation, but it also recognises that there are those of us living in Northern Ireland who are very much Ulster British," she said. "There's a commissioner there to deal with the concerns of the Ulster British community. So I think it is a balanced deal." Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said late Thursday that the party's senior leaders would give the draft "careful consideration" on Friday. The parties are being pushed toward an agreement by the threat of a new regional election being called if no government is formed by Monday. A 1998 peace accord that ended a violent three-decade spell in which thousands died -- known as The Troubles -- requires the two main parties to share power. The lack of an executive is especially fraught with danger for the region because of historic changes to its trade rules being imposed by Britain's pending withdrawal from the European Union. Northern Ireland's border with the Republic of Ireland to the south provides the only UK-EU land frontier. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's EU withdrawal agreement puts pressure on local authorities to maintain frictionless trade while preserving an open border on the island of Ireland. Negotiations to revive Stormont have been stuck on disagreements over the use of the Irish language and a mechanism giving minority governments veto rights. The draft requires the executive "to provide official recognition of the status of the Irish language in Northern Ireland" and "respect the freedom of all persons... to choose, affirm, maintain and develop their national and cultural identity". It also eliminates the veto mechanism and requires the parties to build consensus on issues of dispute. The UK government additionally promises to deliver a new financial package for the region that allows outstanding public sector salaries to be paid. "The package is dependent on the executive getting back up and running," said UK minister Smith. "The time is up, we need to get back to work." jts-zak/phz/jxb
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