The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Rt Hon today met NI parties
to discuss the issues caused by ongoing governance gap in
Northern Ireland, the UK-EU negotiations on the NI Protocol and
NI’s challenging budgetary situation.
In attendance were MLA and of the DUP, Mary Lou
McDonald TD and Michelle O’Neill MLA of Sinn Féin, and of Alliance, and MC MLA and of the UUP, and and Matthew O’Toole MLA of
the SDLP.
During the meeting, the Secretary of State set out the next steps
concerning Executive formation, following the introduction of
legislation in Parliament today extending the period for
formation by one year to 18 January 2024. The legislation will
also enable the Government to bring this new period to an early
end and move to elections sooner, if it becomes necessary.
During discussions about governance in NI, the Secretary of State
informed the parties that the quickest and simplest way to
implement Dáithí’s Law is to affirm the legislation in the NI
Assembly. He has written to the NI parties with a step by step
guide to how they can achieve this.
Discussions also reflected upon the recent passing of the
2022/2023 Northern Ireland Budget Bill as well as the priorities
and challenges for 2023/2024 NI Budget with the Secretary of
State stating that he will shortly be setting the NI Regional
Rate for the next financial year.
The meeting ended with the Secretary of State stressing the
importance of restoring the Executive in the interests of people
in Northern Ireland.
Commenting after the meeting, Secretary of State Chris
Heaton-Harris said:
It is disappointing that further legislation to extend the period
for Executive formation has had to be introduced but I am aware
that many people in Northern Ireland are not in favour of another
Assembly election at this time.
I’ve been encouraged by my discussions with the parties today but
there is no doubt that the absence of a devolved government is
having an impact on Northern Ireland with important legislation
and public services impacted by the lack of an Executive.
My priority remains the restoration of fully-functioning
power-sharing institutions and I will continue to work with the
NI parties to ensure this happens as soon as possible.
