Stormont crisis: Decisions to make if Stormont not restored - SoS

Chris Heaton-Harris said he would have decisions to make if the executive was not restored this week

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said if a Stormont executive is not restored by Friday, he will have some decisions to make.

There has been no devolved government since February 2022.

On Monday, Mr Heaton-Harris held more talks with the parties.

He said he would set out his next steps "in due course", which could involve laying out primary legislation at Westminster, but he did not give further details.

The institutions were collapsed by the Democratic Unionist Party in protest against post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland.

Its leader, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, said "significant progress" had been made on this, however, he said there was more work needed on Stormont's finances.

During pre-Christmas talks, the UK government offered a £3.3bn financial package if the institutions were restored, including provision for public sector pay rises.

Several trade unions are planning a major strike on Thursday calling for better pay and conditions.

'Untenable position'

On Monday evening, the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service Jayne Brady called for funds to be released for pay to head off the strike.

"Urgent action" she said was required on pay disparity and if an allocation was made promptly within the parameters of devolved legislation then pay negotiations could start with unions.

In a letter to the secretary of state, she added the strike showed the "frankly untenable position we are now in".

She also suggested Mr Heaton-Harris needed to implement two other parts of the financial offer: dealing with the overspend and increasing money available for the coming budget.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson spoke to protesters before addressing the media

In response, the Northern Ireland Office said it was "disappointing to see leaked correspondence at this sensitive time".

"Our absolute priority and full focus is to see a restored executive delivering for people and workers in Northern Ireland."

After her talks at Hillsborough Castle on Monday, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said she believed patience with Northern Ireland issues at Westminster had "all but expired".

She said the 23-month-long crisis should end "for the sake of the people we represent" and accused the DUP of holding democracy "to ransom".

'Step up to the plate'

Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O'Neill said her party did not feel positive after its meeting.

"There wasn't anything that gave us any chink of light, if you want to describe it as that," Ms O'Neill said.

"That being said, we still think there is an opportunity for the DUP to step up to the plate."

Mr Heaton-Harris said while talks on post-Brexit trade had effectively concluded, there was "some further progress last week".

He said the financial offer for a restored Stormont was "very generous" but that public sector pay was devolved.

Michelle O'Neill said: "We told the secretary of state that he has put money on the table so to get on with it and pay the workers."

The Stormont Assembly will meet on Wednesday after a successful Sinn Féin recall petition.

Each time the DUP has blocked the election of a Speaker meaning no assembly business can take place.

Protesters outside venue

Members of all five Northern Ireland teaching unions staged a protest at the gates of the castle.

An autism support group also protested outside the talks venue, as ministers arrived.

Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill says she does not feel positive after the meeting

They represented families affected by special schools closing this week during the strike, and chanted to the DUP: "You're paid, pay them."

The DUP delegation, made up of Sir Jeffrey, Gavin Robinson and Emma Little-Pengelly, arrived in Hillsborough to shouts from protesters.

"Fair pay for teachers," some yelled and one protester shouted: "Shame, shame, shame."

Sir Jeffrey said the parties were "moving forward towards the moment when decisions can be made" and called for money to be released to fund pay matters.

"You don't need to have a functioning Stormont in order for the secretary to use the temporary powers that he has given to himself for that purpose," he said.

Members of teaching unions are protesting outside Hillsborough Castle

Why did Stormont collapse?

Northern Ireland's devolved government collapsed in February 2022 after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) withdrew in protest against post-Brexit trade checks between the region and Great Britain.

It believes the arrangements under the Northern Ireland Protocol diminish the region's place within the UK internal market.

A new deal called the Windsor Framework was agreed in 2023 between the UK government and European Union aimed at addressing concerns.

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But the DUP said this did not go far enough, and for months the party has been in talks with the government seeking further changes.

In December, Mr Heaton-Harris said those talks had "effectively concluded" and offered a £3.3bn financial package for Northern Ireland - dependent upon the Stormont institutions being restored.

'Twilight zone'

Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said there had been "no movement whatsoever" to note from the latest meeting with the Northern Ireland secretary.

"Nothing has changed, so 2023 ended with no deal. 2024 has started with no deal."

Social Democratic and Labour Party leader Colum Eastwood said Stormont politics was living in a "twilight zone".

"We've heard that they're close over and over again for the last two years."

He added: "I think it's just scandalous at this point."

Is the NI secretary under pressure?

I had little to no expectations that anything would have changed, and to that extent I have not been let down.

We still have people appealing to the DUP to end their boycott before Thursday, that doesn't look likely to happen.

One union member said to Jeffrey Donaldson that they should go back into Stormont now, to that Jeffrey Donaldson said you have a mandate for strike action, but we have a mandate for remaining out until we get progress that we want.

Thursday is the deadline by which Chris Heaton-Harris has to call an election if there is no restoration of devolution. We are pretty certain he wont do that. It is more likely he will extend the deadline - by how long? We don't know.

It's difficult to see if Chris Heaton-Harris is under that much pressure at all.

What happens after Thursday?

The industrial action also coincides with a legal deadline for restoring Stormont power-sharing.

If no executive is formed by Thursday, the Northern Ireland secretary falls under a legal duty to call an early assembly election.

But Mr Heaton-Harris has pushed back this deadline several times before and has indicated he may do so again.

He previously said he was "considering all options carefully" but was "not treating this date as a target".