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Northern Ireland power-sharing talks break down Northern Ireland power-sharing talks break down
(about 1 hour later)
Sinn Féin has said the talks process aimed at restoring devolution in Northern Ireland has run its course. Talks aimed at restoring Northern Ireland’s power-sharing government have broken down after Sinn Féin said that the party would not be nominating Michelle O’Neill, its leader in Northern Ireland, for the post of deputy first minister.
The republican party will not be nominating a deputy first minister on Monday, the leader at Stormont, Michelle O’Neill, said, triggering another crisis at Stormont. In a statement O’Neill said: “Today we have come to the end of the road.” She was speaking after Sinn Féin said the deadline for a deal on Monday that would secure a new cross-community coalition in Belfast could not be reached.
However the party’s president, Gerry Adams, said he believed the conditions to go back into power-sharing would be achieved in the time ahead. One option for the British and Irish governments who are overseeing the talks would be to hold fresh elections just weeks after the previous electoral contest in March. Another would be to impose direct rule on the region from Westminster.
O’Neill said: “Today we have come to the end of the road.” Sinn Féin’s president, Gerry Adams, said the issues of how to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles and a unionist refusal to support an Irish Language Act had been stumbling blocks in the current negotiations.
Monday is the deadline for nominating a first and deputy first minister at Stormont or else the Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, is obliged to intervene. Fresh elections or direct rule from Westminster could be imposed within a reasonable period. “The DUP’s approach thus far has been to engage in a minimalist way on all of the key issues, including legacy issues, an Irish Language Act, a Bill of Rights, and marriage equality,” Adams said.
O’Neill said: “The talks process has run its course and Sinn Féin will not be nominating for the position of speaker or for the executive office tomorrow.” He added: “They have been reinforced in this by the British government’s stance. This is unacceptable and a matter of grave concern.”
Power-sharing collapsed in January after a row over a botched green energy scheme that is expected to cost the taxpayer up to half a billion pounds. Sinn Féin has said it will not share power with the Democratic Unionists’ (DUP) leader, Arlene Foster, as first minister until a public inquiry into the renewable heat incentive (RHI) is concluded. But he appeared to hold out some hope that the issues could be resolved if there were further negotiations.
Republicans have also been seeking movement on issues such as an Irish language act giving the tongue official status in Northern Ireland, a hugely symbolic measure but deeply problematic for some unionists. They also want to see progress on legacy funding for Northern Ireland conflict victims waiting up to 45 years for answers over how their loved ones died. On the refusal to nominate Michelle O’Neill as deputy first minister, Adams added: “That is today … We do believe that we will have the conditions in the time ahead because we want to be in the institutions.”
Brokenshire is chairing talks in Belfast and said they had a duty to victims to address past violence which left 3,637 dead and countless more injured. The five main parties only had until 4pm on Monday to resolve their differences or face another snap election. The Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, said in a statement that the UK government’s priority remained to keep the Stormont government intact. He said: “I am determined to see a functioning executive in place at Stormont. I have spoken to the prime minister this afternoon and this remains the UK government’s continuing priority.
Sinn Féin has now called time on the current round of negotiations. Adams said unionism was at a crossroads. “The DUP cannot be in there representing the DUP voters. They have to work with us and any other party in there, representing everyone. “This is the necessary first step to addressing the issues of greatest public concern – health, education and other public services in Northern Ireland. Even at this stage I urge political parties to agree to work to form an executive and provide people here with the strong and stable devolved government that they want.”
“We don’t have the basis for doing that, we are not going back to the status quo, but will we be back, will we get the institutions in place? Yes.” The cross-community Alliance party leader, Naomi Long, said a second election within weeks would be a “vanity project”. Some unionists have claimed Sinn Féin may be tempted to go for a second snap poll to build on the goodwill toward the republican party following the funeral of Martin McGuinness last week.
He said the terms did not exist now to nominate a deputy first minister. “That is today … we do believe that we will have the conditions in the time ahead because we want to be in the institutions.” He said unionists needed to help build a society that respected the rights of everyone. McGuinness’ last public political act was to resign as deputy first minister of Northern Ireland in January. He did so in protest at the refusal by the first minister and Democratic Unionist leader, Arlen Foster, to stand aside temporarily from her post while a public inquiry was held into a botched green energy scheme.
“That is the big change that has come about and it is amplified in many ways by Martin McGuinness’s term in office: you do it for everybody.” The renewal heating initiative, which the DUP championed, ended up costing the public purse an estimated half a billion pounds. After McGuinness resigned over the controversy under the rules of power sharing, the cross-community government in Belfast collapsed, prompting elections to a new assembly, which it appears is unlikely at this stage to elect a new regional government.
A voting surge by Sinn Féin in the last assembly election earlier this month saw the party come within one seat of becoming the biggest party at Stormont behind the DUP. Responding to the imminent collapse of the talks, the Ulster Unionist MP Tom Elliott said: “Unless there is a massive U-turn in terms of attitude from the two largest parties, then Northern Ireland could be in for a period of prolonged drift.”
The Irish foreign affairs minister Charlie Flanagan said: “Despite constructive engagement by all of the parties and important progress being made during these discussions, it has not yet been possible to make the necessary breakthroughs on a small number of core issues.” The leader of the nationalist Social Democratic and Labour party, Colum Eastwood, said the public were likely to be angry about being plunged into another political crisis. He called on Brokenshire to create more “space” to reconvene a fresh round of talks.
He said it was a critical time for Northern Ireland before next week’s triggering of article 50 by the UK government. “It is the strong wish of the Irish government to see power-sharing re-established so that the interests of the people in Northern Ireland are best protected and advanced. Eastwood said: “There was, and remains, a mandate for creative compromise to form a government. But those who came to the ballot box earlier this month will now be very angry and they are right to be. Their frustration at the failure here cannot be underestimated and it cannot be easily assuaged through more elections.
He added: “The secretary of state must immediately create space for all parties to refresh their outlook on the challenges we face and reach a positive accommodation that allows a restoration of power sharing.”
The Irish foreign minister, Charlie Flanagan, said it was more important than ever that power-sharing government be restored given that Theresa May will trigger article 50 next week and start the Brexit process.
He said it was a “bitter disappointment” that the deadline for Monday in terms of a power-sharing deal would not be reached.
Flanagan said: “It is the strong wish of the Irish government to see power-sharing re-established so that the interests of the people in Northern Ireland are best protected and advanced.
“I therefore urge the parties to avail of the remaining time available to re-engage on the few outstanding issues that divide them.”“I therefore urge the parties to avail of the remaining time available to re-engage on the few outstanding issues that divide them.”