Decision on Christmas NI election ‘soon’ as Coveney calls fresh poll ‘unhelpful’

The UK government will decide soon if it will call a pre-Christmas election in Northern Ireland, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said following a meeting with the Northern Secretary in Belfast on Wednesday

Speaking to reporters after the discussion with Chris Heaton-Harris, Simon Coveney said “no decisions have been made yet, so we don’t have clarity on a way forward as of yet, but certainly we’re not going to have to wait weeks for that clarity”.

He said “ongoing discussions” would continue between them over the coming days and the UK government had “difficult choices” ahead.

“There is a legal obligation to set a date for an election or else there will need to be new legislation to avoid an election at this time,” Mr Coveney said.

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“I made it clear that the Irish Government’s position is that we don’t believe an election at this time is a good thing for Northern Ireland, in the context of the pressures that families and households are facing now and also in the context that we had an election only a number of months ago that we would like to see result in a functioning Executive and Assembly.”

An election, Mr Coveney said, “isn’t what the parties want … and it certainly isn’t what people in Northern Ireland are asking for either”.

“We think an election would be unnecessary and unhelpful at this time,” he said.

[ Stormont Assembly could sink into history as other options may break stalemate ]

The Northern Ireland Office minister, Steve Baker, told the House of Commons on Wednesday the Northern Secretary would “soon confirm the date of the next Northern Ireland Assembly election, as required by law”.

“Following that election and regardless of the result, the Northern Ireland parties really do need to come together to restore the devolved institutions and lead the people of Northern Ireland through the challenging times ahead,” he said.

After a last-ditch attempt to restore the Assembly failed last week the Northern Secretary is legally required to call an election which must take place no later than January 20th.

The Electoral Office is planning for a poll on December 15th, which would require an election to be called no later than next week.

Northern Ireland has been without an Assembly since the last election in May, when the DUP refused to re-enter the North’s power-sharing institutions until its demands over the Northern Ireland protocol - which it opposes - are met.

Asked about the current state of the negotiations between the UK and the EU, Mr Coveney said the “EU has said on a number of occasions that they would like to have these issues resolved before the end of the year and I think it’s possible to do that if there’s a political appetite on both sides to make that happen.”

During his meeting with Mr Heaton-Harris on Wednesday, Mr Coveney said they had discussed reports of threats to Irish government ministers by loyalist paramilitaries and he would continue to travel to Northern Ireland “regularly”.

“The Irish Government and Irish Government ministers have obligations under the Good Friday Agreement to be part of discussions here in Belfast on how the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are protected, sustained and supported.

“We take those obligations seriously, and that’s why you’re likely to see me regularly here, meeting my counterpart, and trying to fulfil the obligations and the responsibilities that I have.

[ Why is Northern Ireland gearing up for its second Assembly election in less than a year? ]

“We are not going to be intimidated by people who do not reflect the vast majority of people’s opinion here in Northern Ireland,” he said, adding that “small numbers of people with hard-line thinking making threatening statements are not going to put us off”.

Mr Coveney said there was “a tension in the air in Northern Ireland at the moment” and it was the job of the Irish and UK governments to “try to work together to defuse that tension to try to give people reassurance to try and ensure people feel they’re being listened to”.

“The Secretary of State and I had a good discussion about that as to how we can work together in the coming weeks to try to respond to some of that and to take some of the tension out of the air rather than fuel it any further,” he said.

Asked about recent commentary regarding joint authority in the event of a lengthy period without devolved government in Northern Ireland, Mr Coveney replied “joint authority is not our focus … our focus is not on putting pressure to look for joint authority, our focus is very much on getting the devolved institutions functioning again”.

“I think there’s been too much talk to be honest about joint authority and not enough talk about getting an Executive back up and running,” he said.

In a statement issued following the meeting Mr Heaton-Harris did not give any further clarity on the prospect of an election in Northern Ireland but said he “reiterated my deep regret that the Executive has failed to form and the duty that has been placed on me.”

He said “violence or the threat of violence has no place in Northern Ireland” and he wanted to “highlight the importance of pursuing a more peaceful and prosperous future for Northern Ireland through democratic means.”

The Northern Secretary said the Belfast Agreement “clearly sets out that the consent principle governs the constitutional position of Northern Ireland” and the UK government “will not countenance any arrangements that are inconsistent with that principle such as joint authority.”

“In line with the UK Government’s firm commitment to the agreement as it is, I will continue to engage with the Irish Government as set out in three stranded approach,” he said.