After almost two years of political deadlock, Northern Ireland is at long last on the cusp of restoring its devolved government, and could, by the end of the week, have a nationalist First Minister for the first time in its history.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson emerged from five hours of tense overnight talks with his party’s executive today and declared that he was leading the DUP back into a power-sharing government at Stormont, ending the unionist party’s 726-day long boycott.