The leader of the DUP has warned that the party would have difficulty reforming a Stormont Executive after the upcoming Assembly election if issues with the Northern Ireland protocol are not resolved.
The Northern Ireland Executive has formally been shorn of governing powers after DUP First Minister Paul Givan quit the administration.
Mr Givan’s resignation, which came into effect at midnight, automatically removed Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill from the role of Deputy First Minister.
Other Stormont ministers can remain in post but the Executive can no longer meet and is unable to take significant policy decisions.
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The move by Mr Givan, a Lagan Valley MLA, is part of the DUP's escalating protest strategy against the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol.
An Assembly election is already scheduled for May, but Mr Givan’s departure raises the prospect of that poll being brought forward several weeks.
All ministers will leave their posts ahead of any election and a new administration can only be formed following the poll if the positions of first and deputy first ministers are filled by the largest unionist and largest nationalist parties.
DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson suggested on Friday that his party would only return to an executive if its concerns around the post-Brexit trading arrangements are addressed.
“I’ve withdrawn the First Minister on the basis that the protocol issues have not been addressed despite clear commitments and promises given by the [British] prime minister that they would be addressed, and clearly if the protocol issues are not resolved by the time of the election then, of course, it is difficult for us to form a government because of the instability that the protocol creates,” he told BBC Radio Ulster.
“I have made my position clear – I think there is now an opportunity for the [UK] government and the EU to step up. The EU said consistently that the purpose of the protocol was to protect the political institutions, political stability and the Good Friday [Belfast] Agreement.
“Well, we know that isn’t happening because unionists do not consent to the protocol. There is no consensus for the protocol,” he said.
Mr Donaldson insisted, however, there is still a point in having an Assembly poll, saying: “I think the time has come for the people of Northern Ireland to have their say.”
‘Damaging move’
The DUP’s action was strongly condemned by the other parties in the Northern Executive and by the Irish Government. A spokesman for Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he was “deeply concerned” and described Mr Givan’s resignation as a “very damaging move”.
Mr Donaldson defended the decision on Friday and said he had no choice but to act as the protocol “represents an existential threat to the union and to the future of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom”.
He told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that the Assembly could continue to operate as a legislature and that legislation would continue to be worked on “right up to the date” when it was dissolved for the election.
“We’ve been very patient. Everyone accepts that the Northern Ireland protocol is causing real economic damage to Northern Ireland.”
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said talks between the UK and EU on the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland would continue despite the “very unwelcome” resignation.
“To be fair to the DUP, they’ve been saying for some time that if they didn’t get what they were asking for in relation to the protocol that they would do this,” he said.
“And now they’ve gone ahead and done it . . . It doesn’t change much actually, in the context of the negotiations that are going on between Liz Truss and Maros Sefcovic – the two key negotiators who are trying to find common ground on how we implement the Northern Ireland protocol in a way that everybody can accept. Those discussions and negotiations continue and were continuing yesterday.”
Justifying his departure, Mr Givan said the protocol, which has created trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, had undermined a cornerstone of powersharing – governance with the consent of both nationalists and unionists.
His announcement came 24 hours after DUP agriculture minister Edwin Poots acted unilaterally to order a halt to agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports required under the post-Brexit trading arrangements.
Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.
Mr Givan’s resignation removed Ms O’Neill from her job because, under Stormont’s powersharing rules, one cannot hold office without the other.
Flurry of activity
There was a flurry of activity within Mr Givan and Ms O’Neill’s joint office on Thursday night as the ministers pushed through some outstanding decisions before leaving office.
They confirmed the appointment of a new victims’ commissioner. Ian Jeffers, who has extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector, will take up the post for a four-year term.
The ministers also reappointed attorney general Brenda King for a further three-year term.
Sinn Féin has denounced Mr Givan’s move as an electoral stunt designed to consolidate DUP support in the face of recent poor opinion poll performances.
Party leader Mary Lou McDonald branded the DUP tactics a “disgrace” and called for May’s already scheduled Assembly election to be brought forward.
Her colleague John Finucane MP told Morning Ireland that the DUP’s “reckless decision” would have serious repercussions for the people of Northern Ireland. “This has left a huge mess for the other parties to pick up,” he said.
Frustration
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said that politics was about putting the best foot forward and working with everybody and that the DUP’s actions were not going to change anything.
“Yes, there was frustration among unionists with the Northern Ireland protocol, but negotiations were going in the right direction,” he said, adding that removing the First Minister was not going to change the situation but was rather “a pointless action” that is going to impact on people in Northern Ireland.
Claire Hanna of the SDLP said it was important to minimise friction, but that the DUP was “playing up” the difficulties in the protocol. “There are solutions out there,” she said. “The DUP created this mess.”
Northern Ireland was still recovering from the last time “this stunt was pulled” after which there had been “a three-year black hole”, she said.
Ms O’Neill has invited the leaders of the other main Stormont parties, with the exception of the DUP, to a virtual meeting on Friday morning to discuss ways to potentially expedite outstanding legislation through the Assembly before the looming election.
Thursday’s events in Northern Ireland unfolded as UK foreign secretary Liz Truss and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic met to take stock of negotiations aimed at reducing the red tape associated with the protocol. The pair will meet again in London next week. – Additional reporting: PA