SUNAK TELLS NORTHERN IRELAND TO GET ON WITH ‘THE REAL WORK’
▶ UK Prime Minister in Belfast after power-sharing returns to Stormont following two-year impasse
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the “real work starts now” as he told ministers in the devolved Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont to focus on day-to-day issues, not change that may lead to a united Ireland.
The assembly returned to work after a two-year impasse on Saturday, when Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Fein became its first republican leader.
Power-sharing was halted after the Democratic Unionist Party walked out in February 2022 in protest against post-Brexit trading arrangements, which it said undermined Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.
Under power-sharing rules, the administration in Belfast must include British unionists and Irish nationalists.
The DUP was coaxed into returning last week after the UK promised to eliminate most of the checks on goods moving to Northern Ireland from the mainland.
During his visit yesterday, Mr Sunak insisted the priority now for political leaders at Stormont should be delivering on the “day-to-day” concerns of people in Northern Ireland, not a referendum on unification with the Republic of Ireland.
Mr Sunak dismissed any focus on a border poll after Ms O’Neill suggested one could be held in the next 10 years.
“I had very constructive meetings this morning with the executive, with political leaders across Stormont, and it is a historic and important day for the country,” he said.
“Northern Ireland’s politicians are back in charge, making decisions on behalf of their people, which is exactly how it should be.
“Now, our new deal gives them more funding and more powers than they have ever had, so they can deliver for families and businesses across Northern Ireland. And that’s what everyone’s priority is now.
“It is not constitutional change, it is delivering on the day-to-day things that matter to people.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s Prime Minister, who was at Stormont yesterday to mark the restoration of devolution, said the day was about the return of power-sharing.
“Today is about marking the fact that the Good Friday Agreement, which we voted for in big numbers, north and south, is now functioning again,” said Mr Varadkar, who said he believes the 32 counties of Ireland will be reunited in his lifetime.
“The assembly is operating, the executive, and hopefully the north-south [implementation] bodies and ministerial council soon. I think today should be really about that rather than constitutional questions.”
The DUP boycott left Northern Ireland’s 1.9 million people without a functioning administration to make decisions as the cost of living soared and backlogs strained the public health system.
Earlier, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, who accompanied Mr Sunak, rejected claims by Stormont ministers that better funding is needed from the UK government as power-sharing returns.
Mr Heaton-Harris claimed the £3.3 billion ($4.14 billion) package offered by Westminster was “ample” for the executive to “get on with the job”.
Stormont said the sum was not sufficient.
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, of the DUP, said the ministers in Belfast would be “seeking to ensure the UK government provides sufficient funding in a package to fulfil its promises on public sector pay”.
The UK and the Republic of Ireland both act as guarantors of the landmark 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.
Mr Varadkar described it as a “very positive day”.
The leaders met to discuss bilateral ties before Mr Sunak travelled the short distance to Stormont Castle for a meeting with Ms O’Neil and Ms Little-Pengelly.
As the meeting got under way inside the castle, Mr Sunak told the joint heads of the executive: “It has taken a lot of hard work, and indeed courage, to get us sitting round this table.
“Today isn’t the end; it’s the beginning, and the real work starts now.” Following her meeting with Mr Sunak, Sinn Fein’s Mary Lou McDonald, who is leader of the opposition in the Dail, Ireland’s parliament, said “change is all around and must be managed”.
She posted a picture of herself and Ms O’Neill meeting Mr Sunak and Mr Heaton-Harris and wrote on social media about their “early meeting in advance of first executive”.
“Change is all around and must be managed,” she wrote.
Shared commitment to partnership and respect at heart of progress.”
Nationalists and unionists will continue to govern in uneasy balance.
The post of deputy first minister – held by Ms Little-Pengelly – is officially equal to the first minister, and neither can govern without the other.
Ms McDonald and Mr Sunak have both voiced their expectations for Stormont and the future of Northern Ireland