Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party, relegated to second place in historic elections, has rejected London’s appeal to join a new power-sharing executive.
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the party’s leader, told Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis in Belfast that the DUP would not nominate ministers to a new executive at Stormont “until we get decisive action” on trading arrangements that he said undermined Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.
The success of nationalist party Sinn Féin, which is committed to Irish reunification, overturned more than a century of unionist dominance in the region, which was created for the then largely Protestant unionist majority by the partition of Ireland in 1921.
The results mean that Sinn Féin is entitled to lead the next devolved administration. But under the 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of conflict between republicans fighting to oust British rule and loyalists battling to remain British, power must be shared between communities, and the DUP’s boycott could spark months of political limbo.
“We had a meeting with the secretary of state. Until we get decisive action on the protocol, we will not be nominating ministers to the executive,” said Donaldson, referring to the Northern Ireland protocol, which imposes customs checks on goods travelling from Britain to the region in order to prevent the creation of a trade border on the island of Ireland.
While unionist parties won more votes overall than nationalist parties in Thursday’s elections, the majority at the Stormont assembly supports the protocol. An analysis by Katy Hayward, professor of political sociology at Queen’s University in Belfast, found 54 of the 90 elected legislators could accept the protocol with some changes vs 36 who want alternative arrangements.
Lewis has urged the parties to return to the executive and wants to find an agreed solution to the protocol row with the EU, but the DUP has given London an ultimatum: either the protocol or an executive, but not both.
Lewis also says London is ready to take other action if necessary — an apparent reference to planned legislation that could unilaterally rip parts of the deal up. That could trigger a trade war with Brussels.
But Donaldson, whom senior DUP sources expect will stay on as an MP at Westminster for now and take up his seat at Stormont only when he has clinched a deal, said the time for words was over. “It’s more important what the government is now going to do,” he said. “Action is now required.”
Brussels has become increasingly frustrated that its efforts to make the protocol more workable have fallen on deaf ears. Maroš Šefčovič, chief EU negotiator, appealed to London to “be honest” about its commitments under the protocol deal it signed.
“As always, what does London want?” said one senior Irish official. “If London shows it is serious about finding a way through, the European Commission would respond. But not if they think it’s just more and more constant game-playing.”
The Stormont assembly will convene on Friday, but while legislators are expected to elect a new speaker, there appears no prospect that an executive will be formed — opening the door to up to 24 weeks of limbo and then potentially another election.
