Stormont crisis: DUP meeting was not make or break - Sir Jeffrey Donaldson

Sir Jeffrey has criticised the "very ill-informed people" following talks of a make or break deal

A meeting of Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) officers on Friday was not "make or break" for deciding whether to return to Stormont, party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said.

The DUP has been blocking a power-sharing government since February 2022.

It is coming under pressure to say if it will back a deal to end the 23-month political impasse.

Sir Jeffrey said there were "some very ill-informed people who don't know the truth" of what is happening.

The party did not hold a vote when its officers met last week, but it had initially been described to BBC News NI by one source as a "yay or nay" meeting.

Sir Jeffrey is a member of the DUP officer board, along with 11 others whose support is critical if the party's Stormont boycott is to end.

'None of this spooks me'

Speaking on Monday, Sir Jeffrey said leaked reports of the meeting were "factually inaccurate".

"They are not people who are around the party officer table. They are not people who are privy to all of the detail that the party officers have been dealing with. They got that wrong," he said.

"They will have to explain if they're prepared to step out from behind their anonymity, what their real motive is, but I'm very clear - none of this spooks me or fazes me. I am focused on the job I need to do."

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He also insisted that he is continuing to talk to the government to "finalise the outstanding issues" over a potential deal.

"No agreement has been reached in our negotiations with the government and there remains a number of important issues that have to be finalised if we are to see a restored assembly and executive," he said.

"I'm confident that government will engage to the point where we get an outcome and then we can make our decision."

More government meetings

He said party colleagues would be meeting with government officials again early this week to discuss the "state of play", and insisted that Friday's officer meeting was to update them on progress made so far.

Even if a decision is taken by DUP officers, Sir Jeffrey has given a guarantee to his party executive - which is made up of more than 100 members - that they will be able to discuss any decision made.

If an executive is not re-established, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris is to be involved for a second consecutive year in setting Stormont's budget.

Legislation from NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris to extend the deadline for a restored Stormont executive is expected

He is also coming under pressure to set out the next steps for governing Northern Ireland, if the DUP maintains its boycott of power-sharing.

A legal deadline to restore the executive expired on Friday.

The government is expected to bring legislation to Parliament in the coming days that would extend that deadline and push back the requirement for fresh assembly elections.