Sinn Féin warns time running out for Stormont deal

The British government's attempt to get the DUP to prop up a new Conservative administration was making it increasingly difficult to get a resolution in the Stormont talks, Sinn Féin Assembly member Conor Murphy warned on Thursday.

Mr Murphy said time was running out for an agreement as the North’s five main parties and the British and Irish governments remain in discussions aimed at restoring the Northern Executive and Assembly.

The Newry and Armagh MLA complained that the British Conservatives’ concentration on trying to strike a deal with the DUP to shore up a Theresa May-led administration was undermining prospects of a Stormont deal.

He referred particularly to speculation that Thursday of next week is being earmarked as a deadline to conclude the Tory-DUP deal. This however is also the deadline for a Stormont agreement.

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Nailing down both agreements on the same date would seem difficult considering that Sinn Féin as well as the SDLP, Ulster Unionists and Alliance are unlikely to sign up to any deal until they know the detail of the prospective Tory-DUP agreement.

Deadline

Mr Murphy said that on Tuesday the British and Irish governments sought to change the deadline for talks deal to next Tuesday rather than Thursday.

“The British government is content to go through the motions at Stormont but their main focus is elsewhere,” said Mr Murphy.

“Given the lack of progress in the Stormont Talks and the lack of knowledge about the impact of any Tory-DUP deal on our public services, on agreements and on the political institutions, Sinn Féin is concerned that time is running out,” he added.

Another potentially complicating factor emerged on Thursday after North Antrim MP Ian Paisley tweeted that "progress" has been made on the issue of the British military covenant.

This is a commitment to provide special support for British army veterans and their families in Northern Ireland in terms of matters such as health care, housing and children's education.

Mr Paisley was referring to the Queen's Speech on Wednesday where Queen Elizabeth, when outlining the British government's programme of government for the coming two years, referred to "delivering on the armed forces covenant across the United Kingdom".

Sinn Féin opposition

However, this has been a matter devolved to the Northern Executive and because of Sinn Féin opposition the covenant does not apply for ex-British soldiers and their families in Northern Ireland.

If the indications in the Queen’s Speech are that responsibility for this could be reverting from Stormont to Westminster and would be implemented in Northern Ireland are correct, then it could trigger another dispute between Sinn Féin and the DUP and could damage prospects of a Stormont deal.

Mr Murphy however appeared to dismiss the idea of former soldiers being allowed priority treatment over anyone else in Northern Ireland.

“The services that are provided in this part of the world are done so on the basis of equality, the basis of objective need and people’s access to those services,” he said.

Meanwhile, DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson who is involved in the DUP-Tory negotiations said the chances of that deal happening were "very good".

He also said that reports that as part of the deal the DUP wanted £1 billion for health and £1 billion for infrastructure were “wide of the mark” and “nonsense”.

“We’re talking about funding across a range of issues, certainly some money for health and education and some money for our infrastructure, but certainly the scale that we’re talking about is nowhere near what’s being speculated in the media,” he told BBC Radio 4.