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Bid launched to revive power sharing in Northern Ireland Bid launched to revive power sharing in Northern Ireland
(32 minutes later)
The plans could see extra cash for the region and a progress over Gaelic language rightsThe plans could see extra cash for the region and a progress over Gaelic language rights
The British and Irish governments have handed Northern Ireland’s political parties a draft agreement designed to restore devolution and pressurise them to accept a compromise deal.The British and Irish governments have handed Northern Ireland’s political parties a draft agreement designed to restore devolution and pressurise them to accept a compromise deal.
The document shown to them on Thursday night contained promises of extra cash for the region if the parties would embrace their proposal. The document shown to them on Thursday night contained promises of extra cash for the region and the creation of two “language commissioners” as part of a plan to remove barriers that have blocked previous attempts to revive power sharing.
This week marked the third year since the devolved power sharing agreement collapsed. Sinn Féin withdrew from the regional government over the role of its main coalition partners, the Democratic Unionist party, in a controversial, botched green energy scheme that wasted hundreds of millions pounds. Their move on Thursday night appeared to have created a breakthrough following three years of political deadlock.
The Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith said now was the “moment of truth”. Smith hinted during a press conference outside the Stormont parliament that there might be a compromise over a proposed Irish Language Act, a key demand by Sinn Féin before it goes back into the regional government with the DUP. The Democratic Unionist party gave the plan a cautious welcome. The DUP leader, Arlene Foster, said: “On balance, we believe there is a basis upon which the [Northern Ireland] assembly and executive can be re-established in a fair and balanced way.”
Unionists have opposed a stand-alone Irish Language Act that would put Gaelic on par with English in the region. The former first minister added: “This is not a perfect deal … there are elements within it which we recognise are the product of long negotiations and represent compromise outcomes. There will always need to be give and take.”
The secretary of state said there would be a “good balance dealing with that issue”. This suggests that an Irish Language Act would be coupled with legislation to protect Ulster Protestant culture. Dealing with the most controversial issue that has prevented a return to regional government for the region, ministers from London and Dublin presented an agreement that includes commissioners to protect the Irish language alongside Ulster Scots.
Irish deputy prime minister Tánaiste Simon Coveney also used the word “balance” to describe make-or-break issues including the Irish Language Act. Sinn Féin’s key demand to re-enter coalition with the DUP had been for a stand-alone Irish Language Act which would put Gaelic on an equal par to English.
The five parties involved in power-sharing – which also includes the centrist Alliance Party, the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP– were presented with the document on Thursday night, but according to one political source at the talks it was “whipped away quickly” from their delegation before the two ministers faced the media. Unionists opposed such a move but, in a bid to address their concerns, the two governments have drawn up plans for “an Ulster British Language Commissioner dealing with Ulster Scots language and associated culture and heritage”.
The two governments have imposed a deadline of next Monday before they say they will close the talks. Their move on Thursday night, without any actual final agreement between Sinn Fein and the DUP yet, is a calculated gamble to put pressure on the two big parties to reach a compromise. The governments also proposed created a new devolved ministry or “Office for Identity and Cultural Expression”, which they said in their document would “promote cultural diversity and inclusion across all identities and cultures.”
This week marked the third year since devolved power sharing agreement collapsed. Sinn Féin withdrew from the regional government over the DUP’s role in a controversial, botched green energy scheme that wasted hundreds of millions pounds.
Both Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith and the Irish deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, used the word “balance” to describe the range of compromises contained within their document, which the five main parties – most crucially Sinn Féin and the DUP – must accept by the talks’ deadline on Monday.
The document they showed the parties – which also included the centrist Alliance party, the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist party – is titled “New Decade, New Approach”.
Smith branded the deal as “the moment of truth” while Coveney warned the parties that there was “no public patience, for more process and more discussions”.
In a joint move to pile pressure on the parties, in particular the DUP, to back the proposed agreement, the governments also dangled the carrot of extra cash for Northern Ireland’s health service and education system if a compromise could be found.
There will also be a major reform of the Petition of Concern. This is a parliamentary mechanism designed to prevent domination in the regional assembly by one community over another. It allows for a party or parties from one community to veto any legislation which it believes discriminates against their voters. In effect the Petition of Concern has been used over the last decade by the DUP to veto a majority vote in favour of gay marriage equality in the last assembly before it collapsed in 2017.
The key element of the new agreement emphasised that it “will not be a veto for any one party”.
Ulster Unionist party Leader, Steve Aiken, did not reject the agreement. He said his party is “committed to a return of devolution that is fair and sustainable”, and if the assembly is recalled on Friday his assembly members “would attend and consider the business put before them”.