Sinn Féin has sounded a warning on the future of powersharing in Northern Ireland, claiming the “behaviour of the DUP” is “frustrating” delivery.
Senator Conor Murphy claimed powersharing is in a “precarious place”, and that the DUP “don’t have the political will to make it work”.
He insisted his party is “wedded to powersharing”, but that the DUP “is there because they have to be there”.
“The DUP have demonstrated that they don’t have a political will to make the Assembly work and that poses bigger questions for powersharing … the institutions are in a precarious place,” he said.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson hit back saying he and his colleagues are “committed to not only the institutions but delivering for the people we are proud to represent”.
“We don’t shy away from the challenges, and nor will we be goaded by that sort of commentary, we’re here today and we’re here every day willing to step up and stand up for the people of Northern Ireland,” he said.
Alliance leader Naomi Long urged all sides to “take a step back, take a deep breath and recognise elections will come and go, and we will still have to do business with each other, but focus for the next nine months on what we can actually achieve”.
The statements came as parties visited Hillsborough Castle for meetings with the new Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant.
Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant and NIO Minister Sarah Owen MP speak to the media at Erskine House, Belfast, during his first visit to the region since becoming minister on Friday. (Oliver McVeigh/PA)
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Sir Chris arrived in the region for his first official visit in post on Friday, and visited defence systems plant Thales in east Belfast ahead of meeting the Stormont parties later.
Speaking about his new role, Sir Chris said he is looking forward to the challenge and said he can be “an honest and fair broker between people who don’t agree on everything”.
However he said he was “nervous” about the prospect of “walking on eggshells”, telling media in Belfast: “I think if everybody spends all their time wondering about whether an individual politician is going to say the right thing or put it in the right way, then we’ve all lost.”
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“I think being able to accept that we’re all working in good faith towards the same ends, namely economic prosperity and a degree of community harmony, then I think that that achieves far more,” he added.
As Stormont ministers have been unable to agree a budget for the current financial year, with departments operating on contingency budgets since April, Sir Chris expressed his determination to “keep the show on the road”.
Ministers across the four-party Executive have consistently made the point that they need more money from the Treasury to address a funding crisis facing public services in the region.
Stormont Finance Minister John O’Dowd (PA)
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From Saturday, just 95% of last year’s funding will be available to spend after the Executive passes a deadline to agree a budget under public finance laws.
Stormont Opposition leader Matthew O’Toole had sounded alarms about this deadline, pressing Executive ministers to act to avoid facing this effective funding cut.
Earlier Stormont Finance Minister John O’Dowd said it is “decision time” for the UK Government to properly fund Northern Ireland.
Mr O’Dowd said while Sir Chris and Chancellor John Healey have recently come into post, their officials are aware of the issues in the region.
Responding to those comments, Sir Chris said he is not expecting any decisions to be made today around the Stormont budget.
He was speaking ahead of meeting the Stormont parties while agreement on a budget remains outstanding, with calls for further funding for the administration.
Speaking to media in Belfast, Sir Chris said he will be in “listening mode”.
“I am not expecting us to be making decisions today, I am in very much listening mode. We have two ears and one mouth for good reason,” he said.
“Quite a few politicians from Northern Ireland have already raised with me: ‘Are you coming with a cheque book?’ And actually I am coming with a bit of a check list of things I want to get sorted and done. One of those is of course we have to get to a situation where we can have a proper budget.
“But we also need to make sure that public services in Northern Ireland are delivering for people.
“I note some of the issues in the NHS, some of the additional costs that there are in Northern Ireland that need to be looked at.
“I have already had the briefest of conversations with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and I want to pursue some of those conversations so we get to a long-lasting settlement.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson (PA)
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“I want to keep the show on the road.”
Sinn Féin were the first party to meet Sir Chris at Hillsborough Castle, represented by Mr O’Dowd, along with Irish senator Mr Murphy and Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald.
Mr Murphy said they raised the instability of the Executive and the behaviour of the DUP within the Executive.
He warned of “the challenge that presents not just to delivery”, adding it is “hugely frustrating for our ministers”, and “also to the prospect of powersharing into the future if this type of behaviour continues”.
“We also raised the issue of constitutional change, of the unity referendum, and he needs to engage with that and to engage with the Irish government in relation to planning for an orderly transition into a unity referendum and constitutional change,” Mr Murphy said.
He added that Mr O’Dowd raised the “underfunding” of the Stormont Executive, and the “challenges that represents to run public services”, while Ms Archibald raised the issue of legacy and pressed him to call a public inquiry into the murder of Sean Brown.
“It was overall a useful discussion and clearly the preliminary discussion – there is a great need for much more substantial discussions between both governments and all of the parties here in the time ahead to address all that range of matters,” Mr Murphy added.
UUP deputy leader Diana Armstrong said it was “absolutely reckless” for any party “to suggest the institutions may not last”.
On the comments made by Sinn Féin about the position of Stormont she said: “I think that’s a reckless threat.
“I think people will look to that and say they’re tired of this attitude that we can bring the Government down in Northern Ireland.
“Northern Ireland has come so far, and we need to keep on that journey.
“We’ll be asking those parties to be responsible and to deliver responsible leadership.”
Speaking after his meeting with Sir Chris, Mr O’Toole said he could not say if Stormont would last until the end of its current mandate in May 2027.
“The idea that a Government which is elected, they’re paid ministerial salaries, they have all the perks that come with office, they have thousands of civil servants working for them, the idea that they might simply walk off the job because it suits them is shocking,” he said.
“So I don’t know if Stormont is going to last until next May, but there will be no excuse for any party that seeks to collapse and destabilise it.
“There is a risk that if it collapses again, it won’t come back.”
