This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/aug/26/northern-ireland-uup-significant-powersharing-announcement

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
UUP to leave Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive UUP to leave Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive
(about 2 hours later)
Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive has been plunged into crisis after the leader of the Ulster Unionists said the party should pull out of the devolved government at Stormont. Northern Ireland’s power-sharing executive has been plunged into crisis after the leader of the Ulster Unionists said the party should pull out of the five-party ruling coalition at Stormont.
The UUP’s ruling executive is certain to endorse that recommendation at a meeting on Saturday. The latest and most potentially lethal controversy to beset the devolved government in Belfast was sparked by the murder of ex-IRA assassin Kevin McGuigan earlier this month.
UUP leader Mike Nesbitt said it was time to pull out of the five-party ruling coalition in Belfast in protest at allegations of ongoing Provisional IRA (PIRA) activities – particularly the murder of ex-republican prisoner Kevin McGuigan earlier this month. Mike Nesbitt, the UUP leader, said the McGuigan killing and Northern Ireland’s chief constable’s assessment at the weekend that Provisional IRA members carried out the murder have led to a breakdown in trust between unionists and republicans.
Related: PSNI: Provisional IRA leadership did not sanction Kevin McGuigan murderRelated: PSNI: Provisional IRA leadership did not sanction Kevin McGuigan murder
Nesbitt said there had been a “breakdown of trust” between Sinn Féin and unionists after the chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, George Hamilton, said members of the PIRA are still active and some were involved in the McGuigan murder. The UUP’s decision to move into opposition inside the Stormont assembly will put pressure on the largest unionist political force, the Democratic Unionist party, to either seek to exclude Sinn Féin in government or else itself resign from the administration, triggering fresh elections.
Sinn Féin leaders lined up to denounce Nesbitt’s recommendation to his party executive that it exit the power-sharing administration as putting narrow political gain above the peace process.
Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, accused the UUP of playing party politics. He tweeted:Northern Ireland’s deputy first minister, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, accused the UUP of playing party politics. He tweeted:
This decision by the UUP is more about inter Unionist rivalry than their & others feigned concern about our unequivocal commitment to #PeaceThis decision by the UUP is more about inter Unionist rivalry than their & others feigned concern about our unequivocal commitment to #Peace
The UUP has one minister in the executive, Danny Kennedy, who is in charge of the region’s transport system. Gerry Kelly, former IRA Old Bailey bomber turned Sinn Féin assemblyman, said: “It is very hard to believe what he (Nesbitt) is trying to do other than compete with the DUP in upcoming elections.” Kelly added that the lunchtime press conference in the Great Hall of the Stormont parliament sounded like a “party political broadcast”.
The party’s decision is bound to create huge internal pressure on the largest unionist force, the Democratic Unionist party, to pull out of the power-sharing administration with Sinn Féin and the other parties. This in turn would bring down the devolved regional government. But Nesbitt insisted on Wednesday that the UUP was still “wedded” to the 1998 Good Friday/Belfast Agreement and its “vision of a Northern Ireland that is totally peaceful and where everyone prospers: unionists, nationalists and republicans equally”.
Unionists have warned that evidence of continued PIRA activities including murder would mark a breach of key moves to restore devolution back in 2005. They point to an IRA statement in 2005 that the organisation was disbanding as a military force – a key demand from unionist parties before they would go into regional government with Sinn Féin. The former Ulster Television news presenter said recent events – including the McGuigan murder and chief constable George Hamilton’s analysis that the PIRA exists in some form – had shattered unionist faith in Sinn Féin.
The Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams, said on Sunday that the PIRA “had gone away”, while party colleagues have claimed that the current crisis over the McGuigan murder was being exploited for political gain by opponents north and south of the Irish border. “Seventeen years on, we are told the IRA still exists, and that it has a command structure, at a senior level.
“We are also told members of the IRA have committed a murder on the streets of our capital city, working with another criminal gang, Action Against Drugs. And in response, Sinn Féin trot out their single transferrable speech of denial. That speech is threadbare. It has put a hole in the fabric of the agreement,” he said.
Although the UUP will now give up its single ministry on the executive, where Danny Kennedy has been in charge of the region’s transport system, Nesbitt did hold out the prospect of returning to government if the issue of ongoing paramilitarism is resolved.
He suggested that a new ceasefire/paramilitary monitoring organisation be set up that would investigate alleged acts of violence still being carried out by armed groups including the loyalist paramilitaries as well as the IRA. His call for such a new monitoring force is based on the hope that such a body could act as a deterrent on any further IRA armed actions in particular.
His call for a new version of the Independent Monitoring Commission – the body that examined breaches of paramilitary ceasefires and observed the destruction of most of the PIRA’s arsenal in 2005 – also appeared to win support on Wednesday from a Labour shadow cabinet minister. Ivan Lewis, Labour’s Northern Ireland spokesman, said: “We urge the UK government to work with the Irish government and US administration to identify confidence-building measures which can support dialogue and prevent the collapse of the institutions.”
The UUP’s ruling executive is almost certain to back Nesbitt’s exit strategy from the regional government when it meets on Saturday, putting intense pressure on the DUP to pull out of the power-sharing administration. This would bring down the devolved regional government and spark early assembly elections, possibly this autumn.
While still the largest unionist party, the DUP did ship votes in the general election to the UUP including the loss of its South Antrim Westminster seat to Ulster Unionist ex-army officer Danny Kinahan. The DUP grassroots will fear that they could be electorally outflanked even further by the harder stance of the UUP on being in government with Sinn Féin in forthcoming assembly elections in 2016.
Unionists have warned that evidence of continued PIRA activities, including murder, would mark a breach of key moves to restore devolution back in 2005. They point to an IRA statement in 2005 that the organisation was disbanding as a military force – a key demand from unionist parties before they would go into regional government with Sinn Féin.
The Sinn Féin president, Gerry Adams, said on Sunday the PIRA “had gone away”, while party colleagues have claimed that the current crisis over the McGuigan murder was being exploited for political gain by opponents north and south of the Irish border.