Bradley to delay talks until after elections in May, claims Sinn Fein
THE government will make no further efforts to restore Stormont power-sharing until after May’s council elections, Sinn Fein has claimed.
Party vice president Michelle O’Neill said Secretary of State Karen Bradley had also confirmed her intention to activate a five-month extension to her legal obligation to call a fresh Assembly election.
The two politicians discussed the power-sharing impasse on the phone yesterday.
Under legislation introduced last year, Mrs Bradley is theoretically under a legal duty to call an election if devolved ministers are not in place by the end of March.
But the laws, which also included measures to make it easier for civil servants to make decisions in the absence of ministers, incorporated an option to extend that deadline by five months.
Mrs O’Neill said Mrs Bradley told her that would be triggered in Westminster today.
She accused the Conservative MP of holding the region to ransom and prioritising her party’s confidence and supply deal with the DUP over the needs of local people who have been without a government for more than two years.
“She (Mrs Bradley) will move forward with her legislation, she is going to lay it on Thursday, that legislation will buy her another five months,” Mrs O’Neill said yesterday. “What purpose does that serve? Will it be to do more of the same?
“Because for the past two years Karen Bradley and her government have done absolutely nothing to have a successful outcome to any process to re- store power-sharing and this has all been about their relationship with the DUP.”
Mrs O’Neill added: “She phoned to confirm that they aren’t going to make any effort whatsoever until after the local government elections in order to try and restore power-sharing.
“She was talking about uncertainties in the political situation — obviously, Brexit being the reason behind that.
“I told her I didn’t accept that. I told her that wasn’t good enough, that her government has prioritised its relationship with the DUP, and prioritised its own survival over having locally elected institutions here up and running and serving the people.
The republican leader added: “We are all being held to ransom because of the Tories’ survival and because of the Tories’ po- sition on Brexit, which is being supported by the DUP.” Stormont crashed in January 2017 when the last DUP/Sinn Fein-led coalition imploded amid a row about a botched green energy scheme.
A number of efforts to negotiate a resolution to the long-running logjam have ended in failure.
East Antrim DUP Assembly member Gordon Lyons said: “Sinn Fein should not hide behind Karen Bradley on the restoration of devolution.
“The DUP would nominate ministers immediately and get back to work, taking decisions on the issues which matter to the people of Northern Ireland. Will Michelle O’Neill join us?”
A Northern Ireland Office spokeswoman said the Secretary of State will make “an announcement” today.