THE north is facing a “moment of truth” for the return of power-sharing at Stormont after Rishi Sunak confirmed the British government is “ready to legislate” in order to address DUP concerns over the Irish Sea border.
Speculation is continuing to mount over a potential deal between the DUP and Mr Sunak’s government after the prime minister told the House of Commons he was willing to “work night and day” to restore the Stormont executive.
The DUP have boycotted power-sharing since withdrawing from the executive in 2022 over the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol trading arrangements.
Mr Sunak’s Windsor Framework deal on the NI Protocol with the EU at the start of this year, which was designed to ease trading restrictions on goods moving between the north and Great Britain, failed to address the DUP’s protocol concerns, the party said.
Talks between the government and the DUP have continued in previous months, amid speculation that a new deal can be reached to restore Stormont and also provide a financial boost for the north’s struggling public services.
London has offered a £2.5 billion package to support the return of the executive and assembly, though the north’s party leaders have said the sum is not enough.
Responding to a question from DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson on new legislation to “guarantee and futureproof Northern Ireland’s unfettered access to the UK’s internal market”, Mr Sunak said: “I can confirm to him that the government does stand ready to legislate to protect Northern Ireland’s integral place in the United Kingdom and the UK internal market, alongside an agreement to restore the executive.”
He added: “Our NHS, our police officers, and the most vulnerable in Northern Ireland need devolved government urgently and I think it is incumbent on all of us to work day and night to achieve that.”
Yesterday Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said: “We are now at the moment of truth, a moment of decision. We are very, very determined that we have government that can deliver for every citizen, every person, here in the north.”
She added: “The plan and the purpose of all of this now is to get power sharing back up and running.”
Yesterday Sir Jeffrey Donaldson insisted there is more work to be done before his party is prepared to return to powersharing.
Talks involving the main political parties and the British government are to continue on Monday after failing to conclude as planned yesterday.
Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris chaired another plenary session with the four Executive parties at Hillsborough Castle on Wednesday evening.
Sir Jeffrey insisted that the discussions on Stormont’s financial problems and his party’s efforts to secure assurances on post-Brexit trade were separate.
In a statement, Mr Heaton-Harris said: “I would like to thank the parties for their thorough and constructive engagement over the last three days. The government has outlined a fair and generous package which could assist a returning Executive to stabilise its finances and protect public services.
“Over the course of our discussions, a number of points have been raised which require further clarification, including the need for firmer proposals from the parties for how a restored executive plans to deliver the transformation of public services.
“We will be continuing our dialogue with the parties on these issues over the coming days, with the single focus of seeing the return of a locally elected and accountable devolved government.”
Emerging from the latest round of talks at Hillsborough Castle, the DUP leader told reporters his party would need to see the proposed legislation around east/west trade before determining whether it satisfied its core objective of securing Northern Ireland’s place within the UK internal market.
Sir Jeffrey said: “As to the timescale, we continue to engage with the Government. We have not completed this process yet in terms of our discussions about the (Northern Ireland) protocol, about the harm the protocol has done, about what the solutions look like.
“In parallel with that we will continue to engage with the government on matters related to the budget, to the funding of our public services.
“But we are clear that we want to get the right outcome for Northern Ireland. That means, for us as unionists, restoring Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom and its internal market.”
He added: “Every day that we make progress is a day that takes us closer to securing our objectives. But we are not there yet. There is still work to be done. This process is not concluded.”
Sir Jeffrey rejected suggestions that recent developments, including the talks on budgetary issues and Rishi Sunak’s legislative pledge during Prime Minister’s Questions, was part of a “choreography” toward the restoration of powersharing.
He told reporters outside Hillsborough Castle: “I’m not interested in choreography. I’m interested in results. I’m interested in solutions.
“We will keep working at this until we get the outcome that Northern Ireland needs.”
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald described the crunch talks as a “moment of truth”.
Ms McDonald said the negotiations were drawing to a conclusion following “productive exchanges”.
Ms McDonald told reporters: “We’re now at a decision-making point for the Treasury in terms of money and for the DUP in terms of powersharing.”
She said Northern Ireland’s institutions had to be properly funded and that public-sector workers needed fair pay.
Ms McDonald said there was “uniformity” across all the parties in terms of the financial request from the government.
“We need a similar unity in purpose and action in terms of getting the executive up and running.”
She said it was time for the DUP to make a decision on returning to powersharing.
“The plan and the purpose of all of this now is to get powersharing back up and running.
“We have set out the case very, very clearly to the British government, very clearly to the Treasury of what is required financially to meet the needs of the north for public services, for fair pay for public sector workers, and we need a positive response to that.
“And the case for restoring power sharing is unanswerable at this stage, and we’ve equally made that case.”
UUP leader Doug Beattie said “there is a real sense of momentum in the room” during the negotiations with the Government on funding for Northern Ireland.
Mr Beattie said the final session on Wednesday was “positive” and that all political parties were aligned about Northern Ireland’s finances, but added: “I’m slightly disheartened in many ways. I was hoping that the questions that we asked about the fiscal floor and whether we could backdate the fiscal floor would have been answered, they haven’t been answered.”
He told reporters he “wished we could have kept it going” by meeting over Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday “to get an answer before Monday”.
Alliance MLA Andrew Muir agreed there was unanimity among the parties on several areas, including the fiscal floor.
He said: “It is important that Northern Ireland has a reformed, restored and fairly funded executive.”