Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Karen Bradley and Tánaiste, Simon Coveney announced a fresh round of talks aimed at restoring devolution at Stormont. Talks involving Northern Ireland’s five main parties will begin on Wednesday 24 January. Karen Bradley said “time was short” to agree a deal. Mr Coveney said progress must be made within “weeks rather than months.”

Mary Lou McDonald was confirmed as the only candidate nominated to replace Gerry Adams as President of Sinn Féin. A special ard fheis will be held on 10 February to elect the party’s new leader. McDonald said, “The truth is no-one will ever fill Gerry Adams’ shoes, but the news is that I brought my own.” Meanwhile, the party’s leader in the North, Michelle O’Neill said that she will put herself forward for Sinn Féin Vice-President. If elected, she would replace Mary Lou McDonald who is currently Vice-President. On Northern Slant, Kevin Meagher wrote: Welcome to Sinn Féin 2.0.

Sinn Féin’s Barry McElduff stepped down as MP for West Tyrone after he tweeted a video appearing to mock the Kingsmill massacre. Last week, the Sinn Féin leadership suspended him from carrying out party work for three months. Announcing his resignation, Mr McElduff said that he did not want to be a “barrier to reconciliation”. A by-election for the Westminster seat will follow.

A plan to redraw Northern Ireland’s electoral boundaries has been adjusted to retain four constituencies in Belfast, according to a map temporarily uploaded online. Previously, in 2016 the Boundary Commission shared proposals suggesting that Belfast’s seats should be reduced to three. Northern Ireland looks set to lose one constituency, from 18 to 17, as part of a wider move to cut Westminster seats across the UK from 650 from 600. On Northern Slant, James McMordie wrote: Musical chairs: What do the latest boundary changes mean?

Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, indicated that funding for cross-border projects will continue after Brexit. Speaking at the European Parliament, he said that he could see “no more important use” of the European budget than maintaining Ireland’s peace process. The current peace funding stream is scheduled to end in 2020; Mr Juncker’s statement would suggest that a fresh round of peace funding could be available between 2020 and 2025.

Also published on Medium.