Northern Ireland parties to continue power-sharing deal

DUBLIN, Ireland -- The rival parties in Northern Ireland's power-sharing administration announced a deal Wednesday that will permit both sides to elect a new leader and keep their unlikely coalition running.

The British Protestants of the Democratic Unionist Party and the Irish Catholics of Sinn Fein said they would jointly elect new leaders to the year-old coalition when the Northern Ireland Assembly convenes today.

The election is necessary because the administration's leader, First Minister Ian Paisley, is stepping down and handing the top job to his longtime deputy, Finance Minister Peter Robinson.

Sinn Fein had threatened to block Robinson's election -- and potentially force the collapse of the Northern Ireland Assembly -- because the Democratic Unionists are refusing to move ahead on other power-sharing goals.

But Sinn Fein relented after an intervention by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who announced that he would invite both sides to negotiations in London on Friday.

"We look forward to working together after we have been nominated as first and deputy first minister," Robinson and his soon-to-be Sinn Fein deputy, Martin McGuinness, said in a joint statement.

The rising tensions between Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionists concern whether their administration should be given control of the justice system in Northern Ireland.