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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/14/arlene-foster-no-prospect-restored-government-northern-ireland
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Arlene Foster: no prospect of restored government in Northern Ireland | Arlene Foster: no prospect of restored government in Northern Ireland |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| DUP leader says there is not yet a ‘fair and balanced package’ in terms of a deal with Sinn Féin | DUP leader says there is not yet a ‘fair and balanced package’ in terms of a deal with Sinn Féin |
| Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent | Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent |
| Wed 14 Feb 2018 16.33 GMT | Wed 14 Feb 2018 16.33 GMT |
| Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 17.51 GMT | |
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| The Democratic Unionist leader, Arlene Foster, has ruled out the prospect of any deal to restore power-sharing government in Northern Ireland in the short term. | The Democratic Unionist leader, Arlene Foster, has ruled out the prospect of any deal to restore power-sharing government in Northern Ireland in the short term. |
| The region’s former first minister said there was no current prospect of a compromise between her party and Sinn Féin. | The region’s former first minister said there was no current prospect of a compromise between her party and Sinn Féin. |
| Foster and her party have been shaken by the level of opposition within the DUP and in the wider unionist community over any deal that would include a standalone Irish language act as demaded by Sinn Féin, party sources said on Wednesday. | Foster and her party have been shaken by the level of opposition within the DUP and in the wider unionist community over any deal that would include a standalone Irish language act as demaded by Sinn Féin, party sources said on Wednesday. |
| Despite the arrival of Theresa May and the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, in Belfast at the start of this week, Foster said there were too many significant gaps between the two main parties to reach a settlement. | Despite the arrival of Theresa May and the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, in Belfast at the start of this week, Foster said there were too many significant gaps between the two main parties to reach a settlement. |
| British and Irish government sources had been briefing since the weekend that a deal to narrow the gap between the parties was imminent. | British and Irish government sources had been briefing since the weekend that a deal to narrow the gap between the parties was imminent. |
| But Foster said “we do not have a fair and balanced package” in relation to the deal put on the table. She said it was now up to central government in London to impose a budget on Northern Ireland to allow regional departments to function. | But Foster said “we do not have a fair and balanced package” in relation to the deal put on the table. She said it was now up to central government in London to impose a budget on Northern Ireland to allow regional departments to function. |
| She said the DUP would continue to aim to restore devolved government but that her party would not accept a “one-sided deal”. | She said the DUP would continue to aim to restore devolved government but that her party would not accept a “one-sided deal”. |
| Foster continued: “For almost four weeks, we have been engaged in intensive negotiations with Sinn Féin. We have attempted to find a stable and sustainable basis for restoring devolution. Those discussions have been unsuccessful. | Foster continued: “For almost four weeks, we have been engaged in intensive negotiations with Sinn Féin. We have attempted to find a stable and sustainable basis for restoring devolution. Those discussions have been unsuccessful. |
| “Despite our best efforts, serious and significant gaps remain between ourselves and Sinn Féin, especially on the issue of the Irish language. | |
| “I have made it consistently clear that unionists will not countenance a standalone or free-standing Irish language act. Sinn Féin’s insistence on a standalone Irish Language Act means that we have reached an impasse.” | |
| DUP negotiator Simon Hamilton said May’s visit to Belfast on Monday was unhelpful and a “distraction”. He told reporters: “I think the visit of the prime minister and the [Irish] Taoiseach [Leo Varadkar] acted as a bit of a distraction at the beginning of the week, I don’t think it was entirely helpful in getting us to reach a successful conclusion but regardless of the intervention, unsuccessful as it was of both prime ministers, significant and serious gaps remain between ourselves and Sinn Féin.” | |
| Sinn Féin’s leader in the deadlocked Northern Ireland Assembly, Michelle O’Neill, said: “Sinn Féin engaged, we worked in good faith, we stretched ourselves. We had reached an accommodation with the leadership of the DUP. The DUP failed to close the deal. They have now collapsed this process. These issues are not going away. | |
| “Sinn Féin are now in contact with both governments and we will set out our considered position tomorrow. The DUP should reflect on their position.” | |
| The leader of the smaller nationalist SDLP party, Colum Eastwood, expressed anger and disappointment at the statement. He said: “We have to get back to working together. We have to not allow this moment to be the destruction of all that we have achieved. | |
| “Equally we can’t allow this British government or this DUP to think that they are going to govern Northern Ireland on their own. That cannot be allowed to happen.” | “Equally we can’t allow this British government or this DUP to think that they are going to govern Northern Ireland on their own. That cannot be allowed to happen.” |
| Through 13 months of stop-start negotiations involving the DUP and Sinn Féin, the latter’s core demand has been the drafting of an Irish language act that would give Gaelic the same legal status as English throughout Northern Ireland. | Through 13 months of stop-start negotiations involving the DUP and Sinn Féin, the latter’s core demand has been the drafting of an Irish language act that would give Gaelic the same legal status as English throughout Northern Ireland. |
| Hardline unionists have portrayed the act as forcing compulsory Irish on the unionist community, including bilingual street signs in and around pro-union areas of Northern Ireland. | Hardline unionists have portrayed the act as forcing compulsory Irish on the unionist community, including bilingual street signs in and around pro-union areas of Northern Ireland. |
| The whipping up of unionist fears about their Britishness being “hollowed out” via such legislation has struck a chord with the wider unionist population, one DUP source said. | The whipping up of unionist fears about their Britishness being “hollowed out” via such legislation has struck a chord with the wider unionist population, one DUP source said. |
| The party’s high command was shocked at the level of grassroots opposition to a language act, the DUP source added. | The party’s high command was shocked at the level of grassroots opposition to a language act, the DUP source added. |
| The original reason for the collapse of the last power-sharing executive in Belfast was a controversial green energy scheme, which saw the multi-million pound cost to the taxpayer spiral out of control. | |
| Because Foster and the DUP had championed the renewable heat incentive, their key partners in that government asked that she step aside temporarily from the first minister’s office so an inquiry could be held into the scheme. | Because Foster and the DUP had championed the renewable heat incentive, their key partners in that government asked that she step aside temporarily from the first minister’s office so an inquiry could be held into the scheme. |
| When Foster refused to stand down, the deputy first minister at the time, the late Martin McGuinness, resigned. Under the rules of power sharing, if one main representative from the two divided communities in Northern Ireland resigns from office, then the whole devolved edifice collapses. | |
| This is what happened at the start of 2017 and 13 months of negotiations between the two parties have failed to bring power sharing back. | This is what happened at the start of 2017 and 13 months of negotiations between the two parties have failed to bring power sharing back. |
| Northern Ireland | Northern Ireland |
| Arlene Foster | Arlene Foster |
| news | news |
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