Northern Ireland leader stands down, starts countdown for new government

FILE PHOTO: Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster looks on outside the Strand Cinema, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restrictions begin to ease in Belfast, Northern Ireland, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Belfast (Reuters) - Northern Ireland's biggest parties have up to seven days to agree to go back into government with each other after the Democratic Unionist Party's Arlene Foster formally notified the assembly of her resignation as the British region's First Minister on Monday.

The DUP is set to nominate social conservative Paul Givan to take over, but if the nationalist Sinn Fein refuses to nominate a Deputy First Minister, then the region's executive cannot function, and a snap election could follow.