Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill has said she fears that the Stormont powersharing institutions may never return as she accused the DUP of refusing to accept a nationalist first minister.
Ms O’Neill said if the powersharing institutions could not be revived then a British-Irish partnership that provides “joint stewardship and an intensified role for the Irish government” in Northern Ireland must be considered.
She was speaking during a recalled session of the Stormont Assembly, a day before thousands of public sector workers go on strike in Northern Ireland.
However, the DUP, the largest unionist party, will use its veto to again block the election of a speaker and a first and deputy first minister.
DUP MLA Gordon Lyons called the recall a “cynically orchestrated stunt”.
Consensus must be found to elect a new speaker and deputy speaker before any business can take place.
The DUP has refused to back the nomination of a new speaker in previous attempts to recall the Assembly.
It is maintaining its refusal to participate in devolved government until unionists’ concerns over post-Brexit trading arrangements are tackled by the UK Government.
Ms O’Neill told the Assembly chamber that the argument that the DUP boycott was related to the Windsor Framework had “lost all credibility”.
She said: “The hardship and suffering, the bread-and-butter issues for workers, families, households and businesses is what counts and it’s what the DUP refuse to prioritise.
“The only remaining explanation for the DUP boycott is the refusal to accept a nationalist first minister.
“There is a dangerous attempt under way to discard the democratic outcome of the Assembly election, and this threatens our democratic governance, public administration, reconciliation, and the fabric of this society.”
Ms O’Neill added: “If Jeffrey Donaldson does not change his approach, then this sitting may well be the final one of this Assembly.
“I fear that the democratic institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are in free fall.
“And while this is reprehensible, those are the hard facts before us.
“If it is the case that the DUP will not respect the outcome of the election and restore democracy, then there is an obligation on both the British and Irish governments to look at plan B – a British-Irish partnership that provides joint stewardship and an intensified role for the Irish government in the affairs of this state and our administration.
“The public looking on here today are not seeing the change they voted for.
“If the DUP position of obstruction remains unchanged, then it is imperative that a change of direction within the constitutional framework of the Good Friday Agreement is now advanced.”
Mr Lyons responded: “This recall is much like the five others that came before it. It is a stunt.
“It has been cynically orchestrated to coincide with the industrial action scheduled across our public sector.
“This has been done in an attempt to make the public believe that the restoration of the Assembly today will lead to the cancellation of the strikes tomorrow.
“Sinn Fein know full well that there is no prospect of a speaker being elected today.
“They know there will not be ministers nominated today.
“And they know that if even those do happen, the pay issue will not be settled today but will be subject to negotiation between employers and unions. It is disingenuous to suggest otherwise.”
Mr Lyons said the barrier to public sector pay increases was not the lack of a Stormont executive, but lack of finance.
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