DUP ‘rules out’ any Stormont return before Christmas

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has ruled out a pre-Christmas deal to restore Stormont before further financial talks between Northern political parties and the UK government.

Reacting to BBC reports this morning that the DUP will not return to powersharing this week as it believes the process “is not yet complete”, a party spokesman said: “The DUP is condition-led not calendar-led.”

With the UK parliament due to go into Christmas recess tomorrow, it was hoped that an agreement could be struck to allow the recall of the Assembly and election of a speaker.

Northern Ireland has been without government for 22 months as the DUP continues to boycott the devolved institutions in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements.

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Today’s talks at Hillsborough Castle followed on from last week’s negotiations when a £2.5 billion (€2.9 billion) package was offered by London – dependent on Stormont’s return.

The financial deal would include money for public sector pay rises this year, an extension to the deadline for paying back Stormont’s overspend, and a reform of the funding model for the North. Sinn Féin, the DUP, Alliance, Ulster Unionists and the SDLP agree it does not go far enough.

Neither Northern Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris nor members of the Treasury were present on Monday.

Fresh negotiations between Mr Heaton-Harris and leaders of the four biggest political parties are expected to resume in Hillsborough on Tuesday.

Speaking after Monday’s discussions, Ulster Unionist MLA Steve Aiken said that the lack of progress was “disappointing” after the momentum built last week led to hopes of a breakthrough.

“Today just seemed to be standing still ... there doesn’t seem to be any movement. It’s almost like a stalemate,” he told the BBC on Monday evening.

“We’re all waiting for the Secretary of State to arrive in Northern Ireland this evening and see what he has to say tomorrow.”

Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy described the DUP stance as “disgraceful” and accused Jeffrey Donaldson of having a “complete lack of leadership”.

Speaking in Newry, Mr Murphy said: “The DUP this morning confirmed that they’re going to continue their blockade of the executive, and that is devastating news for people who are on waiting lists, for people who are awaiting fair public sector pay, those standing on cold picket lines, doctors, nurses, teachers, transport workers, civil servants all seeking a fair deal.

“The opportunity to put this executive back in place has been there for some time now and people have given space to the DUP to try and get their act together to come back and commit to powersharing with the rest of us, and now they have kicked it down the road again for perhaps the seventh or eighth time this year.”

Mr Murphy said they had called on the British government to “bring this to a head” and end this “endless negotiation that they have”.

“And now the DUP have played them, and we’re now into another year with this charade that continues,” he said.

But the DUP’s Gordon Lyons defended his party’s position and insisted that it had not raised expectations about a pre-Christmas deal:

“These are important issues, it’s absolutely essential that we get the right sustainable financial package in place because this is about the people of Northern Ireland, this is about dealing with our waiting lists, it’s about making sure that our public sector workers get a fair wage and looking to the future dealing with issues like childcare reform.

“That’s what we are committed to doing and that’s why we’ll continue to take part in these discussions.”

Asked about his party’s discussions with the UK government around the Windsor Framework, he responded:

“Right from the start we have said that we want to get this right. There are a number of issues that we need to deal with, financial issues that we have been talking about today, it’s essential that those are put on the stable footing for the long-term – we don’t care about short-term fixes, we want to get this right for the long-term.”

Alliance Party deputy leader Stephen Farry accused the DUP of “dragging out” negotiations over a return to Stormont.

“Another day, another set of frustrations in what has been a very long 18 months of frustrations for the people of Northern Ireland.

“There is no excuse for the assembly and executive not being in place, whether it is today or 18 months ago. The time for decisions has long since passed and we need clarity on what is happening.”