Michelle O’Neill and Conor Murphy spoke after meeting NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris
Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill said she did not hear any urgency on the part of the UK government to restore Stormont during her talks with the NI secretary.
She led a delegation to meet Chris Heaton-Harris to discuss the deadlock.
The DUP has insisted new legislation is needed before it will end its 18-month boycott over post-Brexit trade rules.
Ms O’Neill called on the UK and Irish governments to do more to resolve the impasse, but Mr Heaton-Harris said they were “working very, very hard indeed”.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) met the secretary of state in London on Wednesday and afterwards they said that the onus was on the government to introduce new legislation at Westminster from September.
But Sinn Féin said it still has not seen details of what the DUP asked for in order for it to return to power-sharing.
Speaking after her meeting at Hillsborough Castle on Thursday, Ms O’Neill said she made it clear to the secretary of state that the current political vacuum at Stormont was “totally unsustainable”.
“All it is serving is to punish the public,” she said.
“Whilst people in the DUP take themselves off on summer holidays, families are left struggling; workers and families are left struggling and worried about how they are going to deal with the cost of living.”
‘We don’t have answers’
The DUP walked out of Stormont’s power-sharing executive in February 2022 in protest over a Brexit deal which introduced new checks and restrictions on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak negotiated the Windsor Framework with the EU to address some of the problems created by the post-Brexit Irish Sea border.
But the DUP still had many concerns and submitted an 18-page document to the government outlining its demands before it will return to Stormont.
The Sinn Féin delegation told reporters that their party has not seen that document because so far it had only been shared with the government.
“We have a British government off doing its own thing with the DUP and telling you [the media] that they’re not providing a running commentary so don’t ask us any questions about it,” said Sinn Féin’s Conor Murphy.
“You’re asking us questions about things that the secretary of the state refuses to discuss with you [the media].
“We don’t have answers to that because we haven’t seen the 18-page document.”
The secretary of state also addressed reporters after the talks in Hillsborough and said: “Good progress has been made and I am, as ever, glass half full.”
Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris was upbeat about the progress of the talks
Asked if the government could do more, he replied: “I think we are working very, very hard indeed and have been over the last few weeks to try and get to a better position.”
Mr Heaton-Harris added that talks would continue “behind the scenes” over the summer in a bid to restore power-sharing.
“Whilst parliament may be going into recess, this work will not be and I’d like to think we will make substantial progress in the next couple of weeks.”
‘Whole of society is suffering’
The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Doug Beattie said his delegation had “a good conversation with the secretary of state” at Hillsborough Castle.
He told reporters he was still hopeful that devolution could be restored by the autumn but he also said he was a realist and admitted that “the timings are getting tight”.
The UUP’s Robbie Butler and Doug Beattie also met the NI secretary at Hillsborough
Mr Beattie said there would be a couple of weeks in September when a decision would have to be made and insisted “that’s down to the DUP”.
He confirmed that the UUP had not seen the DUP’s 18-page document either, but said the “whole of society is suffering” because of the boycott.
“They’re laying blame on the door of unionism, and that’s not wholly fair but actually that’s the reality of where we are right now,” Mr Beattie added.
The secretary of state’s meetings at Hillsborough Castle followed talks with the DUP, SDLP and the Alliance Party in London.
September window
There had been hope of a possible breakthrough before Westminster’s summer recess, which begins on Thursday, but there is still no end in sight to the DUP’s Stormont boycott.
The talks are aimed at restoring Stormont’s devolved institutions at Stormont which collapsed in February 2022
Speaking after meeting Mr Heaton-Harris on Wednesday, the DUP’s deputy leader, Gavin Robinson, said the government knows what steps are needed to restore devolution.
“They are going to have to bring forward measures in the House of Commons that address the constitutional issues that we have highlighted,” he added.
‘De facto direct rule’
However, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the DUP had been given “far too much road” and that it was time for the government to get much tougher on them.
Speaking to BBC’s Good Morning Ulster on Thursday, the Foyle MP said the DUP “need to get back to work” as local people are frustrated.
“We have a quarter of the population on hospital waiting lists and we have the DUP playing games,” Mr Eastwood said.
Image source, Brian Lawless/PA Wire
Colum Eastwood says he is downbeat about Stormont being restored soon
“We are in this sort of de facto direct rule situation where the British government is making decisions when we need local people making those decisions.
“A direct rule situation doesn’t give voice to the Good Friday Agreement because the Good Friday Agreement is about two traditions coming together and governing Northern Ireland.
“What we have right now is one tradition being represented by the British Tory government and the nationalist tradition, and everyone else not being represented within that.”
‘Unrealistic demands’
Alliance’s deputy leader Stephen Farry said he was “not entirely sure that the government and the DUP are on the same page” in terms of requests for new legislation to deal with the DUP’s concerns over the Windsor Framework.
Image source, Pacemaker
Stephen Farry from Alliance said he was concerned about Stormont’s worsening finances during the wait to restore devolution
He told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster that he too did not know exactly what the DUP has asked for.
“I hear the rhetoric at times from the DUP. I hear demands at times that are unrealistic,” Mr Farry said.
The North Down MP added: “I am concerned – and the longer this drifts, the worse the current financial crisis gets in Northern Ireland.”
As far as getting Stormont restored, the end-of-term report card will surely read ‘Must do better’.
Sources say the secretary of state’s focus remains on facilitating the return of the executive as soon as possible and that in these meetings he’ll press the parties on their plans for a programme for government.
But, as always, everything appears to hinge on the government’s discussions with the DUP, around which we are simply told “there will be no running commentary”.
But with Parliament not due back until the first week in September and the DUP saying legislation is required, the odds on a deal in the autumn do not look good.
