Sir Jeffrey Donaldson confirms DUP will not nominate NI Assembly Speaker as other Stormont parties criticize decision

Stormont’s other four main parties criticized the DUP for refusing today to endorse a new Speaker of the Assembly.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson confirmed his party will not move forward without changes to protocol.

Without cross-community support, a Speaker cannot be installed and the Assembly cannot function, even in a reduced role.

Reacting to the news, Sinn Fein’s Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill said on Twitter: “Today is the day we should form an Executive to put money in people’s pockets and start fixing our service. Health.

“The DUP has confirmed that they will punish the public and will not show up. They are shamefully holding the public to ransom for their Brexit mess. Shameful.”

The DUP had previously indicated that it will not run for the post of Deputy Prime Minister, which will prevent the formation of a new Executive, as part of its protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.

And in a statement to the Newsletter, published this morning, Sir Jeffrey said: “Today the DUP will not support the choice of a speaker in the Assembly.

“Some parties that just a few months ago scoffed at the DUP’s promise of decisive action on the Protocol are the same parties now feigning surprise and outrage at a political party keeping its promise to the electorate.

“Devolution was restored on the basis of the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ agreement. We have seen delivery or significant progress on almost every aspect of that document except one.

“That is the UK government’s promise to legislate to respect Northern Ireland’s place within the UK internal market.

“Twenty-eight months since that promise was made and 16 months since it should have been kept, unionists cannot be accused of a lack of patience.”

He added: “I have patience and resolve in equal measure to see the Irish Sea border removed and stable and sustainable devolution restored.

“The unionists’ concerns over the Northern Ireland Protocol are not simply a political dispute that is affecting Stormont. The protocol is a direct challenge to the principles that have underpinned all agreements reached in Northern Ireland over the last 25 years. It erodes the very foundations on which devolution has been built.”

MLAs are to meet one noon where they will sign the register and designate themselves as Nationalist, Unionist or Other.

Speaking on BBC Good Morning Ulster, Alliance leader and Justice Minister Naomi Long called the DUP action “incredibly frustrating” for society.

She said the public had overwhelmingly backed the candidates who promised to return to government.

“The DUP has said that an important challenge for them is the protocol, we do not deny it, we understand it, but we must also deal with the health service, we must face the cost of living crisis.

“We have to deal with climate change, we have to deal with the budget.

“There are many challenges that people face in society and many of them are much more acute than protocol.”

SDLP MLA Colin McGrath also told the show that his first thoughts were with his constituents who were struggling to pay the bills.

“It looks like we’re not going to form an Executive because the DUP doesn’t want to do that, they obviously don’t think the issues facing people are important enough,” he told the BBC.

“They feel like they have other priorities than people’s lives and livelihoods and they feel like they have to take a stand that prevents all of us from dealing with it.”

He added that there was a mechanism in the New Decade New Approach agreement of January 2020, which allows in case of disagreements to establish a Shadow Assembly with acting ministers.

“That same rule was put in place by the DUP, but now they are the ones who are going to try to thwart that.”

When asked about the protocol issues, Mr. McGrath said the best way to address it was to form an opinion with an Executive.

A suggestion of how to circumvent the impasse had been for the SDLP and UUP to be designated as others, meaning they could join the Alliance to form the second largest designation in the Assembly.

This means that the Alliance could nominate a deputy prime minister without relying on the DUP to do so.

McGrath said it wouldn’t be right for his party to change their designation after getting their mandate as Nationalists.

“You shouldn’t be trying to find solutions from people who aren’t causing the problems,” he said.

Later on Good Morning Ulster, Ulster Unionist MLA Andy Allen called the DUP’s decision “extremely disappointing”.

“It is no surprise that they are increasing their pressure on the UK government and the EU to deal with the protocol, this has been a long time coming.”

He said that establishment as an Assembly would allow many important functions to be carried out, such as the establishment of a working group on energy poverty.

“Once again we are in a situation where Northern Ireland will not have an Assembly, will not have an Executive, people will be hurt,” he said.

“That needs to be looked at carefully. We cannot allow this situation to continue for many, many months.”

Alliance MLA Sorcha Eastwood called the DUP’s behavior “disgraceful”.

“Six years ago, the DUP supported the wrong horse. They bet on a monumentally significant referendum that gave us Brexit,” he said.

“NI voted to stay, but now, six years later, they have buyer’s remorse.

“Shameful. The DUP doesn’t care one iota about EI or their people.”