The Alliance Party leader has warned that patience with Northern Ireland is “running out” in London as she urged the DUP to return to devolved government.
The Stormont Assembly has been effectively collapsed for almost two years while the DUP refuses to take part while unionist concerns on post-Brexit trading arrangements remain.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says his party remains in talks with government on the matter.
The largest Stormont parties met with Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris on Monday days ahead of a strike planned by public sector workers over pay.
Thursday also marks the deadline for Mr Heaton-Harris to call fresh Assembly elections if the institutions are still not functioning.
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long has appealed once again for the DUP to return to powersharing, but added that her pleas may fall on “deaf ears”.
She said that the £3.3 billion on offer from the UK Government was not something to be “sniffed at” and said there was “no suggestion from Treasury” that the money would still be available if there was no return to powersharing.
She also warned that patience with Northern Ireland in London is “running out”.
Last week the chairman of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Sir Robert Buckland urged the DUP to show leadership, suggesting “there isn’t a perfect solution for them”.
Sir Robert also indicated that “old-style direct rule of the past” from London was off the table if devolved government could not be resurrected.
Ms Long said: “Robert Buckland is not an outlier when it comes to the views he expressed last week in terms of the future of Northern Ireland.
“Robert Buckland is a former member of government and a senior member of the Conservative Party, and I think people need to listen very carefully to what he said.
“Patience with Northern Ireland and with the DUP in particular at Westminster has all but expired, and I think the time has now come for us to take control of our own situation, start to make the difficult choices that will be required of all of us in government and start to do it now for the sake of the people that we represent.”
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said there has been “absolutely no movement” as he emerged from meeting with Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris.
“That was a bit like a teacher parent evening telling us how we were doing and telling us where we wanted to get to and the pathway to get to it, but with absolutely no movement whatsoever, and nothing has changed, so 2023 ended with no deal, 2024 has started with no deal,” he said.
“We will now move into a place where the Secretary State will probably lay primary legislation next week in order to show how we’re going to govern Northern Ireland going forward without a devolved government.
“The door of course will always stay open to get us back in but from what I was hearing there (there is) absolutely no movement whatsoever. The £3.3 billion stays on the table, but that’s only linked in to the restoration of devolved government and if we don’t have that then we’re not going to have a £3.3 billion.”
He said they asked to “decouple the public sector pay money away from the negotiations” before the public sector workers’ strike on Thursday.
But he said Mr Heaton-Harris “pretty much says he can’t do that or won’t do that”.
“But the bottom line is, he’s not going to do that,” he said.
“So we will go into strikes and then we will see where we get to next week.
“Depressing in many ways, I guess, but the mood music is changing, and the geopolitical things going on in the world are overtaking what’s happening here in Northern Ireland and we’re not going to move forward.”
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood urged the UK government to release funding to make a pay award to public sector workers ahead of Thursday’s strike.
He said he believes it is “scandalous we’re still at this point” while the Stormont Assembly remains collapsed amid DUP protest action over post-Brexit trading arrangements, adding people were in a “twilight zone waiting for the DUP to make a decision”.
“The first thing that I said to the Secretary of State was, ‘we now know you have the money so let’s get (it) spent’,” he said.
“Let’s avoid the strike on Thursday.
“The people who are forced to go out and strike and give up a day’s pay, have nothing to do with this political gamesmanship that’s going on.
“They’re just ordinary workers who we ask to do the most difficult jobs in society who are getting underpaid by any standard, and they should be entitled to that money and the Secretary of State should get on and pay them.
“He has said that he doesn’t have a legal power but as we all know, the legal power will be hard to find, and the British government could bring in a law tomorrow to get these people paid.
“I think they should get on with it.”
Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris has insisted it is “hard to see any barriers” for the restoration of devolved government in Northern Ireland.
He met with the major Stormont parties in a series of bilateral meeting at Hillsborough Castle across Monday.
He said during those meetings, they discussed the January 18 deadline for an Assembly and Executive to be reformed, after which he must call fresh elections.
“In my meetings today I emphasised it is now 23 months that the people of Northern Ireland have been without the locally elected politicians, they voted for taking the decisions needed to tackle the issues faced by the people and businesses across Northern Ireland, and I outlined the generous financial package offered to the parties before Christmas, worth over three billion pounds, that is currently available from day one of a reformed executive, the financial package which provides solutions to many issues raised by the parties, including money that would enable a restored executive to give public sector workers a pay award,” he said.
“I also emphasise that the Windsor framework talks with the DUP had effectively concluded. I’m pleased to say that we were able to make some further progress last week, and today I’ve urged all parties to take the next step and form an executive.
“It is hard to see any barriers whatsoever to stop this from happening as soon as possible. The people of Northern Ireland deserve to have the the people they voted for working for them.”
Turning to a major strike by public sector workers in Northern Ireland planned for Thursday, Chris Heaton-Harris insisted the matter is a devolved one.
“The industrial action taken by the unions will disrupt the lives of many people across Northern Ireland,” he said.
“Public sector pay in Northern Ireland is devolved. This is properly a matter for locally elected politicians who are best placed, and I quote others here, to tackle the unprecedented challenges confronting citizens, public services, particularly the immediate matter of public sector pay today in Northern Ireland.
“If an executive has not been reformed by Friday, then as I say, I will have various decisions to make and I will set out my next steps in due course.
“To end, I do believe that all the conditions necessary are now in place for the political representatives in Northern Ireland to govern on behalf of the people who elected them.
“It is time for the talking and debate to finish. It is time for Stormont to get back to work.”
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said there had been “absolutely no movement” as he left his meeting with Mr Heaton-Harris.
“Nothing has changed, so 2023 ended with no deal, 2024 has started with no deal,” he said.
He said they asked to “decouple the public sector pay money away from the negotiations” before the public sector workers’ strike on Thursday.
But he said Mr Heaton-Harris “pretty much says he can’t do that or won’t do that”.
“But the bottom line is, he’s not going to do that,” he said.
“So we will go into strikes and then we will see where we get to next week.
“Depressing in many ways, I guess, but the mood music is changing, and the geopolitical things going on in the world are overtaking what’s happening here in Northern Ireland and we’re not going to move forward.”
