Sinn Féin attacks ‘lack of leadership’ as DUP rules out deal before Christmas

By Claudia Savage, Jonathan McCambridge and Rebecca Black, PA

The UK government has been urged to call time on its “endless negotiation” with the DUP after the unionist party signalled that a deal to revive Stormont would not be finalised before Christmas.

Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy criticised a “lack of leadership” from the DUP as political parties reconvened at Hillsborough Castle on Monday for more talks with the UK government on a financial package for the North.

However, DUP MLA Gordon Lyons insisted his party was focused on the outcome of separate talks processes over finances and post-Brexit trading arrangements and would not be “calendar-led”.

Earlier, a party source ruled out any deal which would restore Stormont before Christmas.

Mr Murphy did not attend the Hillsborough talks.

Speaking in Newry, he said: “Obviously, the DUP this morning confirmed that they’re going to continue their blockade of the executive, and that is devastating news for people who are on waiting lists, for people who are awaiting fair public sector pay, those standing on cold picket lines, doctors, nurses, teachers, transport workers, civil servants all seeking a fair deal.

“The DUP, through a  complete lack of leadership, have demonstrated no care for those people whatsoever.

“The opportunity to put this executive back in place has been there for some time now and people have given space to the DUP to try and get their act together to come back and commit to powersharing with the rest of us, and now they have kicked it down the road again for perhaps the seventh or eighth time this year.”

'DUP blockade leaving thousands of workers high and dry' – @conormurphysf

“What the public needed to see from Jeffrey Donaldson today was decisive action, not more excuses, and yet another failure to take decisions in the best interests of everyone here"https://t.co/kItGxSHoJl pic.twitter.com/tmVOCLfiyb

— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) December 18, 2023

He added: “I think it is disgraceful, it’s a complete lack of leadership by Jeffrey Donaldson.

“We had told the British Government that they needed to bring this to a head, to call an end to this endless negotiation that they have, and now the DUP have played them, and we’re now into another year with this charade that continues to carry on.”

DUP MLA Mr Lyons said it was not his party which had raised expectations that a deal could be achieved before Christmas.

He said: “These are important issues, it’s absolutely essential that we get the right sustainable financial package in place because this is about the people of Northern Ireland, this is about dealing with our waiting lists, it’s about making sure that our public sector workers get a fair wage and looking to the future dealing with issues like childcare reform.

“That’s what we are committed to doing and that’s why we’ll continue to take part in these discussions.”

Asked about his party’s discussions with the UK government around the Windsor Framework, he said: “We have said from the start of this process that we are not calendar-led, we are condition-led.

“Right from the start we have said that we want to get this right. There are a number of issues that we need to deal with, financial issues that we have been talking about today, it’s essential that those are put on the stable footing for the long-term – we don’t care about short-term fixes, we want to get this right for the long-term.”

Alliance Party deputy leader Stephen Farry accused the DUP of “dragging out” the process of negotiations over a return to Stormont.

He said: “Another day, another set of frustrations in what has been a very long 18 months of frustrations for the people of Northern Ireland.

“There is no excuse for the assembly and executive not being in place, whether it is today or 18 months ago.

“What the DUP are doing is dragging this process out. There is no excuse for that. The time for decisions has long since passed and we need clarity on what is happening.”

Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie has said momentum in the all-party talks has been lost and key players are missing.

He said he does not expect to see a deal done before Christmas.

“None of the decision-makers are going to be in the room today. So you can sense that we have lost momentum that we needed to have,” he said.

“It will be focused purely on finance again, and of course finance linked to the restoration of the executive, and I can’t see anything happening this side of Christmas – that’s not to say it won’t, I just can’t see that happening.”

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.

Party leaders in Northern Ireland have agreed that the current financial offer from the UK government is not enough.

Northern Ireland’s institutions require the largest unionist and nationalist parties to share power, but the Stormont Assembly and executive have been effectively collapsed for almost two years amid DUP protest action over unionist concerns following the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Party leaders are expected to return to Hillsborough Castle on Tuesday for round-table talks with Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris.