The North’s first minister designate has told the Stormont Assembly she fears the democratic institutions of the Belfast Agreement are in “free fall” and the Irish and British governments must work together on “Plan B” if the DUP does not end its boycott.
Michelle O’Neill said: “if it is the case that the DUP will not respect the outcome of the election and restore democracy, then there is an obligation on both the British and Irish governments to look at Plan B.
“There must be a British-Irish partnership that provides joint-stewardship and an intensified role for the Irish Government in the affairs of this state.”
A further attempt to recall Northern Ireland’s powersharing government failed on Wednesday, when the DUP, as had been signalled, did not support the nomination of a speaker – the prerequisite for any further Assembly business.
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Warning that this could be the final sitting of the Assembly elected in May 2022, which has been in limbo due to the DUP’s boycott, the Sinn Féin vice-president said that “if the DUP position of obstruction remains unchanged, then it is imperative that a change of direction within the constitutional framework of the Good Friday Agreement is now advanced”.
Northern Ireland has had no functioning executive since February 2022, when the DUP’s Paul Givan quit as first minister in protest over post-Brexit trading arrangements.
Speaking during the debate on Wednesday, Ms O’Neill said there was “no clear explanation for stalling formation of an executive” and “the argument that this continues to relate to the Windsor Framework has lost all credibility”.
“The only remaining explanation for the DUP boycott is the refusal to accept a nationalist first minister.
“There is a dangerous attempt under way to disregard the democratic outcome of the Assembly election, and this threatens our democratic governance, public administration, reconciliation and the very fabric of this society,” she said.
The DUP Assembly member Gordon Lyons said the Assembly recall was a “stunt” which had been “cynically orchestrated” to coincide with the widespread public sector strikes due to take place on Thursday.
He said the “arrangements from the Northern Ireland protocol damaged the basis on which powersharing works, and has prevented the formation of an executive” and the DUP’s negotiations with the UK government “have made real and significant progress but will continue until there are arrangements agreed that unionists as well as nationalists can support”.
During the debate, the Alliance Party, Ulster Unionists and the SDLP also called on the DUP to drop their boycott and return to Stormont, and all parties appealed to the Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to make the money that is on offer to settle the public sector pay dispute immediately available.
The funds are part of the £3.3 billion (€3.8 billion) package that is on offer from the UK government if the Executive is restored.
Mr Heaton-Harris has said public sector pay is a devolved matter and this is “properly a matter for locally-elected politicians who are best placed to take decisions in this space”.
Expressing his “disappointment” at the failure to elect a speaker on Wednesday, the Northern Secretary called again for the restoration of the Assembly and executive, saying “the return of a locally elected, accountable and effective devolved government is the best way to govern Northern Ireland. However, in the absence of an executive, the government will proceed with a pragmatic and reasonable approach to support Northern Ireland.”
The deadline for the restoration of the political institutions is Thursday, and, if no agreement is reached, Mr Heaton-Harris will come under a legal obligation to call a fresh Assembly election, to be held within 12 weeks.
He is expected to extend this deadline, and told the House of Commons on Wednesday he intends to “bring legislation on these matters next week”.
Speaking during the Assembly recall, the Alliance leader Naomi Long called again for the reform of the Stormont institutions, saying there was “no point coming to this chamber bemoaning the bind in which we find ourselves time and time again, whilst simultaneously defending and refusing to address the structural weaknesses that enabled it.
“I want these institutions restored as soon as possible, but more, I want them reformed so that no single party can ever again hold these institutions, and with them the best interests and future of our people, to ransom.”
The Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler said the “blame” for the impact of Thursday’s strikes “lies squarely with the DUP.
He said negotiations with the UK government have finished and “the blockage lies with a small number of DUP MPs and Lords who are far removed from the impact on public services and lives here.”
Matthew O’Toole of the SDLP said “workers here have not just been let down, they’ve been used as pawns in the game to apply pressure to the DUP to end their boycott”.
“This chamber and these institutions only matter to the extent that they serve the public. They aren’t serving anyone at the minute, other than the narrow self-interest and self-obsession of a few hardline, usually online, voices.”
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