NI Election 2022: How Stormont events will pause political life

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says his party will not support the election of a Speaker and deputy speakers

Friday the 13th was originally a well-known cult movie, one that has become a film franchise synonymous with being a horror show.

To some, the events at Stormont on Friday the 13th will also be difficult viewing.

The DUP says it will not support the election of a Speaker and deputy speakers at Stormont.

This was meant to be a fresh start, instead events on Friday will simply pause political life here.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, says his party will not support the election of Speaker and deputy speakers.

It is part of the party's ongoing opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol. The move aims to put pressure on the UK government and the European Commission in the ongoing dispute over the protocol.

'Silent assembly'

Without a Speaker, the Northern Ireland Assembly cannot meet or function.

It basically means, in the words of my colleague BBC Political Correspondent Jayne McCormack, that we have a "silent assembly".

In other words, it exists on paper but cannot operate.

It is one of the few moves left open to the DUP to try and apply pressure. In other words, the party is saying to London and Brussels you can have the protocol or Stormont - but you can't have both.

This is a big gamble for the DUP in the hope there will be movement on the protocol to allow the party to return to Stormont.

What if there is no change? How long will the party stay away from the assembly and the executive? How will the public react?

What of the fact that a majority of MLAs support the protocol and does this look like the DUP are holding people to ransom?

Edwin Poots, a former DUP leader, told BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show that "sometimes when you have a problem and it is not being dealt with you have to bring it to a head".

This is the DUP moving things up a gear.

Already their political opponents, who make up the majority in Stormont, have attacked this strategy and Sir Jeffrey Donaldson will also have to calculate whether public opinion will accept delays to the establishment of a fresh assembly and a new executive.

• DUP threatens to stop assembly functioning

• UK rejects EU plans to deal with NI Protocol

• A simple guide to the Brexit border problem

We have been here before.

There was much anger and criticism during the previous Stormont suspension from 2017 until 2020 after Sinn Féin left the executive.

The DUP are also gambling that after last week's election this is the most opportune moment to strike.

Emma Little-Pengelly arrives at Stormont

The party also hopes the political moves in London will assist them in their fight against the protocol. Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, who is an MP and was elected to the assembly last week, originally said he would give up his Westminster role to concentrate on Stormont matters.

But he has now said that will not take place.

He says he will remain as an MP until the protocol is sorted to his party's liking. His party colleague Emma Little-Pengelly will now take his place in the assembly.

It is a move that has been roundly criticised.

Friday was meant to be a new beginning for politics.

Instead, for seasoned political watchers, Friday the 13th - resembles another movie - Groundhog Day.

• GOVERNMENT CRISIS: What happens next?

• DOMINANCE TO DECLINE: The fall of the UUP and SDLP

• HISTORIC MOMENT: From IRA politics to NI's biggest party

• SINN FEIN: What does the party want?

• THE ASSEMBLY: How power-sharing works in Northern Ireland

• RESULTS: The assembly election in maps and charts