Sunak to meet new Northern Ireland leaders
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is to visit Northern Ireland to meet the leaders of the new powersharing Executive with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at Stormont in Belfast today.
The Assembly returned on Saturday following a two-year political deadlock, with Sinn Fein's Michelle O'neill making history as Northern Ireland's first nationalist First Minister.
The institutions were restored following a deal struck between Mr Sunak’s government and the DUP to allay unionist concerns over post-brexit trading arrangements.
The Prime Minister will be welcomed to Stormont Castle today by Ms O’neill and deputy First Minister, the DUP’S Emma Little-pengelly.
During his visit, his seventh to Northern Ireland, he will also carry out a number of community engagements, meeting people involved in public services.
The government has pledged £3.3 billion for the new Executive to stabilise finances, including £600 million to settle public sector pay claims.
On Thursday, the Government fast-tracked two pieces of legislation contained in the agreement through the House of Commons as part of its agreement with the DUP, opening the way for Saturday's return of the Assembly.
The new Executive is due to hold its first meeting today.
Ms O'neill said that it will need to begin work immediately on tackling public sector funding challenges.
She said: “I am determined to do our very best. This place has been starved of public services funding for over a decade because of the Tories in London. We can do much better than that.
“That's a fight I think we have to fight together and I think there's a combined effort across the Executive to have a proper funding model for here so we actually can do better public services and invest in the public sector workers.”
Ms O'neill has also said she expects a vote on Irish unity to take place in the next decade.
After the DUP announced last week that it would end its boycott of the powersharing institutions, Sinn Finn leader Mary lou mcdonald said irish unity was now within “touching distance”.
Ms O'neill echoed those sentiments during a TV interview in which she said her election as First Minister demonstrated the “change that is happening”
on the island of Ireland. She said: “That is a good thing, it is a healthy thing, this change can benefit us all.
“When Mary Lou Mcdonald talks that it is within touching distance, I believe that we are in the decade of opportunity.
“I believe also equally that we can do two things at once; we can have powersharing, we can make it stable, we can work together every day in terms of public services while we also pursue our equally legitimate aspirations.”
Asked if this meant there would be a unity referendum in the next decade, Ms O'neill said: "Yes. I believe we are in a decade of opportunity and there are so many things that are changing.”
The UK Government’s Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said that she did not want to speculate on the comments.
This place has been starved of funding Michelle O’neill