Paul Givan: Public won’t be taken in
by hypocrisy of Sinn Fein stunt

Former first minister Paul Givan said the party behind recalling the Assembly yesterday – Sinn Fein – was not credible because it had been the one that “kept these institutions down for three years.”

Mr Givan said: “The public will see hypocrisy for what it is from Sinn Fein.

“This isn’t a serious attempt to restore the principles of power-sharing and these institutions. It is a stunt.”

With the backing of the Alliance Party and SDLP Sinn Fein proposed a petition to bring the Assembly back and attempt to renominate a new speaker for the Stormont parliament.

But without the support of the DUP the chamber failed to elect a speaker and a deputy speaker for the second time this month, which in turn entails that an Executive cannot be formed and a new first and deputy first minister appointed either.

The two nominations for the role, the Ulster Unionists’ Mike Nesbitt and the SDLP’s veteran MLA Patsy McGlone, had failed to secure the necessary cross-community support from MLAs.

The plenary session of the Assembly was then suspended as business could not be carried out without a speaker.

The DUP has refused to nominate a speaker as part of its strategy to oppose the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The party has said it will not rejoin an Executive at Stormont until there are major changes to the post-Brexit trade deal which all unionist parties are opposed to.

Sinn Fein deputy leader Michelle O’Neill insisted last night that her party would continue to try and get a speaker elected and an Executive up and running as the public was demanding.

Ms O’Neill said: “They want the parties and every single MLA elected to this democratic institution to get their sleeves rolled up and to get down to business.”

She added: “The DUP’s stand-off is with the public and not with the European Union.

“As I stand here today I am ready to work with others.

“We will come back again, we will do this again because I am not giving up, we believe in making this institution work and we still at this point call on the DUP to join with all the other parties that actually want to make politics work.

“All parties, but also the British government, should respect the democratic outcome and now fully support the application of the Good Friday Agreement through power-sharing and equality.”

Alliance Party MLA Nuala McAllister said a restored Assembly at Stormont could begin to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

Ms McAllister told MLAs: “There is much that can be done by an Executive to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

“At the heart of this cost-of-living crisis is our government’s failure to act and that is something that we all take responsibility for.

“But we are ready to take decisions to alleviate those stresses and give people who have been voiceless for so long hope.

“Those of us who want to get on with the job are more than desperate to do so.”

On the impact of the DUP staying out of the Executive, the Alliance MLA said: “Any consequence from now, from the day that the DUP walked away from the Executive, any hardship people are facing are on the heads of the DUP.”

Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler said his party wanted all-party talks to begin on a programme for government.

He told the recalled Assembly: “The UUP have written today to the head of the civil service to convene all-party talks to establish a programme for government and the minister for finance to reopen the public consultation on the budget.

“These are measures which should be done now to restore the confidence of the people of Northern Ireland that we all purport to serve.”

SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole said that the number of MLAs who support the Northern Ireland Protocol had increased in the recent Assembly election.

He asked MLAs: “Why is the DUP holding the people of Northern Ireland to hostage?

“They say it is all about the (Northern Ireland) Protocol.

“The protocol is an international treaty signed between the UK and the European Union,” Mr O’Toole said.