DUP will not nominate ministers without 'decisive action' on protocol - Donaldson
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Loading... - Maria Laine
- 09 May 2022
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DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said he has told Northern Ireland Secretary of State Brandon Lewis that his party will not nominate ministers to the Stormont power-sharing Executive without "decisive action" on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Speaking following a meeting in Belfast, Mr Donaldson said: "We have had a meeting this morning with the Secretary of State and we have made our position clear to him.
"It is the position we have held before the election, throughout the election campaign and will continue to hold, and that is until we get decisive action taken by the UK government on the protocol we will not be nominating ministers to the Executive."
Earlier, Mr Lewis urged the leaders of the main parties at Stormont to deliver a "stable and accountable" devolved government to the people of Northern Ireland.
He is holding separate meetings with the party leaders, which come as the governments in Dublin, Washington and London, called on the parties to restore the Stormont Executive as soon as possible.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said it's "incumbent" on the parties to do so.
Mr Donaldson said: "We want to see stable political institutions, we want to be part of the Executive, we want to play our part and fulfil the mandate we were given by the people of Northern Ireland.
"We are also clear given the damage and harmful impact the protocol continues to have on Northern Ireland, driving up the cost of living, harming our economy, impeding the ability of businesses to trade with our biggest market and fundamentally undermining political stability, undermining the principle of consensus politics.
"We need this to be resolved.
"When we re-entered the Executive back at the beginning of 2020 we did so on the basis of a clear commitment by the UK Government under the New Decade, New Approach agreement to address and protect our ability to trade with the rest of the United Kingdom."
In a statement issued in advance of the meetings, Mr Lewis had said: "The people of Northern Ireland deserve a stable and accountable government and I will continue to urge the leaders of Northern Ireland political parties to fulfil their responsibilities and form an Executive as soon as possible."
But in a clear attempt to provide reassurance to the DUP, he also said it was necessary "to address the outstanding issues relating to the Northern Ireland Protocol."
He said the British government wanted to do this "by agreement with the EU, but as we have always made clear, we will not shy away from taking further steps if necessary."
That will dismay the other main parties. Sinn Féin, Alliance, the Ulster Unionists and SDLP have all said there can be no justification for using the dispute over the protocol to delay restoring power-sharing.
The DUP does not see it that way.
While his party finished second to Sinn Féin in terms of first preferences and seats, it did not fare nearly as badly as many commentators and even some of its own members had feared.
As far as Mr Donaldson is concerned, he now has a strong mandate for his position.
The voters who elected his party's 25 Assembly members did so on the basis that they will not go back into the Stormont administration in the absence of a resolution of the Protocol dispute.
DUP Upper Bann MLA Jonathan Buckley told the BBC yesterday that the party had "stood on a manifesto which was the removal of the Northern Ireland Protocol."
He added: "Either the Secretary of State (Brandon Lewis) wants an Executive or a protocol - he can't have both."
There are also plans for the leaders of Stormont's main parties to meet together at some point today to discuss the next steps.
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long and its 16 other Assembly members gathered for a photo call at Stormont's Parliament Buildings this morning.
Ms Long said: "We recognise we have also been given a huge responsibility, and we intend to live up to that responsibility.
"This is a good day for Northern Ireland, if we could get this Assembly up and running and working again. That's our intention. That's our aim. And that's what we're here to do this morning. I hope all other parties come with that same can do attitude."
She also had a direct message for Mr Donaldson.
"We need the DUP to step up to the plate. You know, with power comes responsibility and people now need to take the responsibility seriously.
"I think the DUP need to reflect on their mishandling of Brexit and the fact that they had huge influence at Westminster and overplayed their hand. It would be foolhardy for them to overplay their hand with devolution, because that is a gamble that Northern Ireland can't afford to take."
Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill and her party's 26 other MLAs also gathered at Stormont.
The message from both parties is the same: they want to get back to business as soon as possible.
The DUP will feel it is in a position to exert pressure on the British government to deliver on its oft repeated threats to unilaterally override the protocol if agreement with Europe is not possible.
There were reports just days before the election that Prime Minister Boris Johnson would use the Queen's speech tomorrow to reveal that new legislation was being prepared that would do just that.
Subsequent reports and briefings suggested it might be more of a wink and a nod in that direction rather than an explicit declaration.
The reality is that it may suit the British government if the DUP digs its heels in on the issue as it can use that in an attempt to wring concessions from Europe: the message to Europe would be, if you do not compromise you are jeopardising power sharing and therefore the Good Friday Agreement, which the EU has said it will do everything possible to protect. Read More...
