Stormont stalemate: UK government 'knows steps' needed to restore power sharing

The Stormont executive has been suspended since February 2022

The "ball is firmly at the government's feet" as it knows what steps are needed to restore Northern Ireland's power-sharing government, the DUP has said.

Deputy leader Gavin Robinson was speaking after he and Sir Jeffrey Donaldson met Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris in London.

It was part of ongoing talks to restore the Stormont institutions.

The executive collapsed in February 2022 over the DUP's opposition to post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland.

Mr Heaton-Harris met the DUP, SDLP and Alliance Party on Wednesday and will travel to Northern Ireland on Thursday for talks with Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionist Party.

Mr Robinson said the meeting with Mr Heaton-Harris was productive but more meaningful action was needed.

"We want to see progress on legislation, it's for the government to bring it forward, the next available window for them to do that is in September and I hope they get on with the job," he said.

In June, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) submitted a paper to the UK government with proposals on how to address key issues with the Windsor Framework.

Gavin Robinson said the DUP wants to see progress on legislation,

The DUP deputy leader said they are working through the document with the government.

Mr Heaton-Harris refused to give a "running commentary" on discussions with the DUP.

Civil servants have been running Northern Ireland departments since the executive collapsed 16 months ago, when the DUP withdrew as part of its boycott of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The protocol oversaw post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland.

The Windsor Framework made changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol aimed at significantly reducing the number of post-Brexit checks required on goods travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

However, the DUP has maintained there are issues with the framework.

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SDLP leader Colum Eastwood also met Mr Heaton-Harris on Wednesday afternoon and said it was "a crying shame" that Stormont would not be restored before September.

"The DUP have been given far too much road and it's time now for the government to get much tougher on them and to get them back into Stormont," he said.

"It needs to be made clear to them (the DUP) that the alternative to no government at Stormont isn't direct rule from London, it's actually much more involvement from the Irish government in the affairs of Northern Ireland.

"The DUP are sitting on their hands over some technical dispute about a trading deal that they have no role in at all.

"The deal between the British government and the European Commission is done, its time now for the DUP to get back to work."

Stephen Farry said the DUP needs to be realistic about what can be achieved on the Windsor Framework

Alliance Stephen Farry said his party was concerned that as time goes by restoring the assembly "may become more and more difficult".

"It's now over four months since the Windsor Framework was agreed and we're still not seeing a restoration of the executive and the assembly," he said.

He added that the secretary of state and the DUP were working on "some sort of fix" to the issue but that he was "not entirely sure that the government and the DUP are on the same page".

"It's important that the DUP is realistic as to what is achievable," he added.

'Challenging' budget decisions

The secretary of state has repeated that his focus remains on facilitating the return of the Northern Ireland Executive as soon as possible.

Earlier this month, Northern Ireland's top civil servant said Stormont departments had "reached the limit" of what they can do to manage budget pressures this year.

Jayne Brady outlined her position in a letter to Mr Heaton-Harris where she stated that civil servants have made £1bn of "challenging" budget decisions to date.

The Northern Ireland Office said the Northern Ireland secretary was "acutely aware of the challenges faced by departments and civil servants".

A budget set by the government for this financial year asked permanent secretaries to make savings.

For months, parties have been holding discussions with Ms Brady about priorities for an incoming executive.