Mary Lou McDonald says that the installation of Sinn Féin's Michelle O’Neill as Northern Ireland's first-ever nationalist first minister will be a “moment of great significance” - after power-sharing is restored at Stormont.

She adds that it is a “mark of extent of change in the North and right across Ireland”.

McDonald acknowledges that the "sequencing" of a return to power-sharing still has to be agreed.

She says the announcement late last night that the DUP was backing a deal with Westminster had caused a "great sigh of relief but also a sense of expectation".

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald says she is pleased that Northern Ireland is on the "cusp of the restoration of government".

"It has been a long time coming, but we are very pleased we are at this juncture," she tells reporters.

"We are conscious that there is a huge amount of work to be done."

We're now also receiving a statement from Sinn Féin - you can stream it live by pressing the "play" button at the top of this page.

Image source, Pacemaker

Northern Ireland's other political parties continue to give their reaction to the news that the DUP has backed a deal with Westminster - which could pave the way for power-sharing to resume at the Northern Ireland Assembly.

UUP leader Doug Beattie says " things are moving forward".

He added scrutiny of the deal can be done over the coming days - but that is not the priority.

"We need a quick process to allow us to get the first and deputy first ministers nominated quickly, the executive formed quickly and the assembly to meet as quickly as possible."

He said the deal seems to have met "three" of the seven tests from the DUP and a similar deal could have happened "without collapsing Stormont".

• Read more about the DUP's seven tests here

Alliance leader Naomi Long continues by saying the priority now is "where we go from here, not where we have been".

She says Alliance will go to Stormont Castle this afternoon, where the party will be "engaging with the other parties constructively about how we might take Northern Ireland forward for the next number of years".

She adds: "The sooner we have these institutions restored, the better as far as I am concerned."

We've also been hearing from Alliance leader Naomi Long, who says she feels "bittersweet emotions" after the DUP's overnight announcement.

Speaking in Stormont's Great Hall, she says she's pleased there is the potential for the restoration of the institutions of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

But she adds she is "stinging from the fact that we have lost that two years; that the damage that has been done can't simply be undone."

"There is nothing in the deal that wasn't available in 2018 under Theresa May," she says.

Image source, PA Media

Back in Northern Ireland itself, Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister has been standing in Stormont’s Great Hall, saying he's there to “separate fact from fiction”.

“Not one word of the Northern Ireland Protocol has been altered, and that means Northern Ireland remains under the EU's customs code, and that means Great Britain continues to be regarded, in law, as a foreign country when it comes to trade."

He tells gathered reporters: “Under the protocol there are hundreds of EU laws that we do not make and cannot change."

He points out that those laws which shape NI’s goods economy are “identical” to those that govern the goods economy of the Republic of Ireland.

He says it's all a "tawdry climbdown by the DUP on their own tests which have not been met" and accuses the party of “accepting foreign law”.

• Newcomer to this story? Read about the Northern Ireland Protocol here

Image source, PA Media

Speaking in Westminster a short time ago, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris also acknowledged that reaching the deal required a change of mindset from figures in London as well as in Northern Ireland.

“What has changed has been, I guess, an understanding on my part of the needs of unionism in Northern Ireland, and on the UK government’s part," he said.

"And a very long conversation with the Democratic Unionist Party on how we can make better Northern Ireland’s place in our internal market.”

He was also asked what his message would be to people in Northern Ireland who feel they've seen similar deals in the past and worry there could be further breakdowns of power-sharing in the future.

Heaton-Harris described it as "a really significant question" and "a completely understandable point of view that lots of people in Northern Ireland do have".

“We, the UK government, are completely committed to the Belfast Good Friday Agreement in all its strands, in all its ways. And we want the institutions to work," he said.

“I really hope this deal does what it should be doing and history will be its test.”

The UK's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, spoke to reporters outside the Houses of Parliament just before midday.

Gareth Gordon
NI political correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

After almost two years of stagnation, expect things to move quite quickly now.

On Wednesday, the government will publish what is known as a command paper laying out what has been agreed. The deal will also be published.

Expect the fine print to be pored over by opponents.

The legislation is expected to pass all stages in Westminster on Thursday and the assembly will sit on Friday or Saturday to elect a speaker.

Then members will elect Stormont ministers, including the first nationalist first minister in the history of Northern Ireland.

The parties will meet at Stormont Castle this afternoon to finalise preparations for government.

Then, a year and eight months after the last assembly election, the hard work finally begins.

Image source, PA Media

Our political editor Chris Mason asks Heaton-Harris about the £3bn financial package the UK government has offered for an incoming Northern Ireland executive.

Heaton-Harris again says the details will be available when the proposal is published, but money will be available to any incoming Northern Ireland government.

"So, when the executive sits, that money will be available to do with it what it sees fit," he says, adding: "I believe they're the right people to be doing that element of this business."

"We have been able to achieve quite a vast array of decent improvements to make sure our internal market works properly, as it should do," he says.

Asked about what has changed, Chris Heaton-Harris says there are some significant changes "but you'll have to wait until all-party talks are finalised".

"When I publish the deal in Parliament, everyone will see what it is," he says.

He says there's a package in place which the UK government is briefing the Northern Ireland political parties on - "there are all-party talks going on this afternoon in NI".

"When they are finalised I'll be in a position to publish, and I will."

Heaton-Harries continues by saying: "There was a financial package worth over £3bn offered to the parties before Christmas. This will absolutely be available to an incoming executive."

He says all parties entitled to form the executive are meeting today to discuss these matters - and "I hope we will be able to finalise this deal with those parties as soon as possible and move forward".

Chris Heaton-Harris, the UK's Northern Ireland secretary, reiterates that the DUP has agreed to return to the Northern Ireland Assembly after agreeing to a package of measures put forward by the government.

He says he's updated the cabinet on this "significant development".

The details of the agreement, discussed by the DUP last night, will be published tomorrow, Heaton-Harris says.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, is speaking to the media now.

This follows the DUP's decision to return to power sharing in Northern Ireland.

Press play at the top of the page to watch live.

Image source, Getty Images

One school principal says education in Northern Ireland is facing huge challenges and believes any steps towards Stormont returning is welcome.

"The key thing for all of us in education is that decisions are made," Philip Reid of Mill Strand Integrated Primary School in Portrush, County Antrim, tells BBC Radio Foyle's The North West Today.

"If we look at parity between salaries and wages here and elsewhere in the rest of the UK and Ireland, they have been devastated.

"It is increasingly difficult to attract high quality staff in schools here - that’s not just teachers - that's at all levels.

"It's so hard to get cover in schools at the minute, especially with a lot of sickness going around and that is something that all schools are facing."

Reid says he hopes any return to power-sharing in Northern Ireland can go some way in tackling the many real issues that so many schools are currently dealing with.

Two Northern Ireland residents, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, are hoping that a new government in Northern Ireland will fix some things that are not working.

Becca in Belfast says investment in childcare has long been promised:

Dylan in Enniskillen says his children are looking to leave Northern Ireland for opportunities elsewhere, and it's his hope the government restarting will lead to investments that make Northern Ireland an "exciting and dynamic" place to live:

Image source, Reuters

Sir Robert Buckland, chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, says the DUP decision is "a big step forward but the show isn't over yet".

Sir Robert tells the BBC's Nolan Show that he wants to see the assembly up and running.

"We are on our way to a positive outcome but we want to see the detail."

Sir Robert says he wants to have an advanced briefing from Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris ahead of any debate.

He adds that Northern Ireland has "immense potential" which had been "held back by uncertainty".

Chris Mason
Political editor

The Democratic Unionist Party gathering its executive, details leaking in real time from what was meant to be a private meeting.

A press conference the wrong side of midnight and the expectation now that devolution will return to Northern Ireland very shortly.

We can expect the government in London to begin to set out - and certainly face questions - on the detail of the new deal that has tempted the DUP to move.

Will there really be no checks or paperwork on things being sent to Northern Ireland from England, Scotland and Wales? How is that being squared with the European Union?

When will Northern Ireland get the billions of pounds promised by Westminster?

And then there is the big-picture moment, perhaps now just days away: yes, the restoration of power-sharing devolution, but also, for the first time, a Sinn Féin first minister.

The word "historic" is the most overused word in a colossal bucket of overused journalistic vocabulary.

But that word will be reasonable at that moment. A party that dreams one day of a united Ireland in possession of the most senior job title in Northern Ireland politics - quite a moment.

Enda McClafferty
NI political editor

The "senior" DUP executive member behind leaking the party leader's speech last night was wearing a wire, the BBC understands.

The member used the recording device to relay the speech live to loyalist activist Jamie Bryson.

Bryson then posted some of what DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said on X, formerly Twitter.

It is understood the party leadership believed the speech was being leaked via a mobile phone and called for all phones to be switched off.

But the live feed continued to be shared online.

Bryson refused to disclose who leaked the speech but told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme it was a "senior" member of the party.

After the meeting, Sir Jeffrey said he was disappointed that a member of the DUP executive had “betrayed” the party.

He also disputed some of what was posted on Bryson’s X account, insisting it was inaccurate.