Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HANDS OFF STORMONT
Foster calls for Assembly back and rules out axing petition of concern
THE Assembly mechanism that requires the support of a majority of unionists and nationalists has become a source of dispute in the Brexit impasse.
The DUP has insisted Stormont consent for post-brexit arrangements must be on the basis of parallel consent, not the straight majority envisaged in the latest withdrawal deal.
Mrs Foster had previously voiced a desire to get rid of the petition of concern mechanism, if other parties agreed to the change.
At her party conference in Belfast, she said it was now not the time for such a move. But she denied her stance was related to Brexit.
Mrs Foster argued that removing the mechanism could only come as part of a wider restructuring of the architecture of powersharing.
She insisted the public would rather see the Assembly restored as soon as possible, after almost three years, rather than “navel gazing” and embarking on a re-negotiation of the devolved system of governance.
Asked if she still wanted to scrap the petition of concern, Mrs Foster said: “I think what we’re doing now is in the context of where we are at this present moment in time – we have no Assembly at the moment, we need to have that Assembly back up and running, we need to have a pathway to get that Assembly back up and running again.
“If you try to change a whole remit of the architecture of powersharing, then where are you going to stop? If you’re going to pick and choose the bits that you’re going to actually change in relation to powersharing, that’s not going to work, you’re going to have to have a complete renegotiation of 21 years ago [Good Friday Agreement].
“Frankly, I don’t think that’s what people want.” Mrs Foster said there was no original intention for the petition of concern, saying it was just there to “protect minorities” but added: “Others want to use it for a very more specific issues.”