evidence: Another milestone came in 2010 with the Hillsborough Agreement, in which Sinn Fein and the DUP finally agreed on terms for the devolution of policing and justice functions, as well as a roadmap for managing sectarian parades. By the mid-2010s, the political institutions envisioned in the Good Friday Agreement were generally functioning well, as parties with starkly differing views served together in government. [...] The DUP and Sinn Fein were unable to resolve their differences for nearly three years. Northern Ireland was left without a local government until January 2020, when the two parties made a deal to reopen Stormont. In a major compromise, the deal included an agreement to promote the local Irish and Ulster Scots languages. It also marked the first time that the devolved government was led by two women, First Minister Arlene Foster (DUP) and Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill (Sinn Fein). However, cooperation was short-lived. Foster stepped down in April 2021 after facing pressure over new trade checks on goods traveling to Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK as a consequence of the Northern Ireland Protocol. She was replaced by the DUP’s Paul Givan, who in turn resigned in February 2022 in protest against the protocol. May 2022 elections made Sinn Fein the largest party in the assembly for the first time, but the DUP’s continued boycott kept the government out of commission into 2024. In January 2024, the UK government reached a deal with the DUP to update the protocol and pave the way for a restored government under Sinn Fein’s O’Neill as first minister.