Decision time approaching for DUP on Stormont return – Donaldson

By Jonathan McCambridge, PA

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said he believes the time is approaching for a decision over negotiations with the UK government on post-Brexit trade arrangements.

Mr Donaldson would not comment on whether a deal can be achieved before Christmas which would restore powersharing at Stormont, but insisted he is not planning for failure.

Talks between the Northern Ireland parties and the UK government over a £2.5 billion (€2.9 billion) package to stabilise finances in the North are to continue, with the next plenary session expected on Monday.

The UK government has offered a lump sum to settle outstanding public sector pay demands and a new fiscal floor for Northern Ireland, but it is dependent on a restored powersharing administration in Belfast.

The Stormont Assembly and Executive have been effectively collapsed for almost two years amid DUP protest action over unionist concerns around post-Brexit trading arrangements.

The powersharing institutions in Northern Ireland require the largest unionist and nationalist parties to share power.

Mr Donaldson told the BBC that separate negotiations between the DUP and the UK government over Northern Ireland’s place within the UK internal market are also continuing.

He said: “We are engaging with the Government, I think we’ve made significant progress there over the last few weeks.

“In terms of where that process is, there are still some issues we are engaged with the Government on, but undoubtedly we are approaching the time when we will be able to examine where we have got to, the progress that has been made and perhaps come to some decisions.

“But as to the timescale on that, that depends on a number of things, that process is not yet completed.

“Very often it is the final stages of a negotiation that can be the most challenging and there are still matters that need to be finalised.”

Mr Donaldson added: “I continue to keep my party officers fully informed of what is happening in this process and obviously they will have a major say whenever the moment comes for a decision to be taken.

“The DUP has made its position clear – and that position is shared right across the party – that we want to see the political institutions restored on a sustainable basis.

“That means we have got to not only deal with the issues related to the Northern Ireland Protocol, to restore Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom and its internal market, but also we have got to restore the cross-community consensus which ensures powersharing can work.”

Mr Donaldson insisted there is no timescale for the process, but added: “I haven’t come this far to plan for failure, I am planning to get the outcome that we need, to see Northern Ireland on a sustainable footing.

“We are not yet at the end of the process, the negotiations continue.

“Of course I want an outcome as soon as possible but I want it to be the right outcome because we don’t want to be in this position in six months or a year’s time.”

Speaking on Wednesday, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said it is decision time for both the DUP and the UK government.

She said: “We’re now at a decision-making point for the Treasury in terms of money and for the DUP in terms of powersharing.”

On Wednesday, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said the British government stands ready to legislate to “protect” Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market.

He said such a move would sit alongside a deal to restore the Northern Ireland Executive.