“Following the passage of very important legislation in the House of Commons this afternoon and the publication of the “Safeguarding the Union” agreement yesterday I have this afternoon written to the Speaker of the Assembly to indicate that there now exists a basis upon which the Northern Ireland Assembly can meet to elect a Speaker, and fill the offices of First and Deputy First Ministers and Executive Ministers.
I expect the Assembly will meet on Saturday following the Speaker consulting and making all necessary arrangements. It is my intention to meet with the leaders of the other Executive parties during the course of Friday to finalise arrangements on the key issues that will be tackled by the incoming Executive.
Following the completion of detailed internal party processes with my Party Officers, all our elected members and DUP Peers in the Lords, as well as the Government having taken the legislative steps required of it, we are now able to re-establish the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive.
We do so confidently as we look forward to continuing to work on all the issues that matter to people in Northern Ireland and to use all the new structures to shape the future, confident in the knowledge that much has been achieved.”