DUP LOOKS TO LONDON

Posted by Jim on March 10, 2018

Sinn Fein has warned that the DUP has “checked out” of any attempt to
restore the powersharing institutions in Belfast as the Tory government
in London introduced an effective Direct Rule budget for the North of
Ireland.

DUP leader Arlene Foster has signalled that the day-to-day
administration of the north of Ireland should remain in the hands of the
London government for the foreseeable future.

As the budget was being published, she told the British Chambers of
Commerce annual conference in London on Thursday that she saw “little
prospect” of a Stormont executive being formed “in the coming weeks or
months”.

The former First Minister in the Six Counties claimed her party wanted
devolution but that it was “having decisions made through Westminster”,
where it currently has a pact with the minority Tory government.

Her remarks came after former DUP Stormont minister Simon Hamilton
admitted on Wednesday that devolved government would not be reinstated
“this year and perhaps even beyond”.

Mr Hamilton claimed media reports suggesting that a draft talks deal had
been done to restore devolution, and that DUP leader Arlene Foster
handed over a hard copy to Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill, were the result
of “mischief making” and “selective leaking” by republicans.

Mr Hamilton claimed factors preventing a restoration of devolution
included Sinn Fein “intransigence” and the party’s continued
“eulogising” of the IRA.

“Their behaviour in recent days and their behaviour in recent weeks
suggest to me that they are not serious about getting devolution back,”
he said.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson denied that published details of extensive exchanges
between the parties last month were true.

“Sinn Fein, when it has suited them in the past, have lied about
everything and what irks us is the credibility which is given to the
lies they tell, rather than the explanations that we give,” he said in
media interviews. He said there would be further talks between Sinn Fein
and the DUP, insisting “Sinn Fein are not fit to be in government”.

The remarks showed the DUP had “checked out of the power-sharing
institutions or any renewed effort to restore them”, said Sinn Fein
negotiator Conor Murphy.

“This follows their decision to renege on the draft agreement and to
crash the talks process in the face of opposition from their own most
right-wing, anti-agreement elements,” he said.

“But our public services and the rights of citizens cannot be held to
ransom by the DUP’s refusal to close on an agreement which they
negotiated over 14 months.”

Mr Murphy called on the Dublin and London governments to convene the
British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference “to implement previous
agreements”, including a commitment to an Irish language act and the
release of funds for legacy inquests.

Meanwhile, the DUP expressed delight that almost half of their promised
#1bn funding package as part of their deal to prop up the Tories was
included in the Six County budget, announced in a written statement by
the British Direct Ruler, Karen Bradley.

Former Sinn Fein finance minister Mairtin O Muilleoir denied the budget
amounted to the return of full Direct Rule. He said it was part of the
British government’s “austerity agenda”, and noted there was no money
for legacy inquests.

SDLP finance spokeswoman Claire Hanna insisted Bradley’s spending plan
as a “direct rule budget from London directed by the DUP”.

“This budget presents more questions than answers – primarily, how can
it be acceptable that the DUP confidence and supply is allocated to
departments without any political accountability?” she said.

Ms Hanna said the relationship between the Conservatives and the DUP was
not a solution. “It undermines the very fabric of our politics and the
spirit of power sharing that underpins it,” she said.