Fears of Brexit delay as McGuinness’s exit leads to Ulster chaos

NORTHERN Ireland is facing snap elections that could delay Brexit.

Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness resigned as Deputy First Minister yesterday in the latest bitter fallout from a £1billion scandal.

The move, which ends his party’s ten-year coalition with the Democratic Unionist Party, came in protest at the DUP’s handling of a disastrous renewable energy scheme.

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers last night said new elections are now ‘inevitable’ just six months after the province last went to the polls. The move could affect Theresa May’s timetable to trigger the Article 50 EU exit process by the end of March.

The Supreme Court is currently considering whether she must first seek the consent of devolved assemblies like Stormont — which would be impossible in an election campaign.

Brexit is likely to be a major issue in new elections, because most voters in the province voted Remain but it is led by the pro-Brexit DUP.

Mr McGuinness’s walkout follows months of wrangling over the Renewable Heat Initiative scandal (RHI) which threatens to leave a £490million black hole in Stormont’s finances. The subsidy scheme Northern Ireland politics is engulfed by a row over the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme (RHI) set up by First Minister Arlene Foster. It was meant to encourage use of renewable energy. But subsidy rates were set four times higher than in England and no cap was set on claims. It become known as ‘burn to earn’. Hundreds of businesses signed up and some generated heat just to claim more subsidies. Applications for the scheme rocketed in was set up by First Minister Arlene Foster in 2012 in her previous role as economy minister. It was meant to boost use of renewable energy but the subsidy rates were set far too high and no cap was set on the amounts that could be claimed. This led to huge and farcical abuse, with firms said to have exploited the free-for-all by leaving their heating on at all hours with the windows open.

The scheme was closed last February because of ‘significant financial risk’ to the province. But Stormont is locked 015 into 20-year contracts with firms which signed up and the final bill could top £1billion.

Rival politicians accused Mrs Foster of incompetence and she faced disputed allegations of corruption. But she refused to step aside to allow an independent investigation, despite claims that she had a ‘clear conflict of interest’.

Mr McGuinness said yesterday it was time to let Northern Ireland voters give their judgment on the scandal. He added: ‘The DUP’s handling of this issue has been completely out of step with a public mood, which is rightly outraged at the squandering of public money and the allegations of misconduct and corruption.’

Under the terms of the powersharing deal, his resignation will automatically bring down Mrs Foster as First Minister and trigger new elections unless Sinn Fein nominates a new Deputy First Minister, which it has vowed it will not.

Mrs Foster hit back yesterday by accusing Mr McGuinness of staging a cynical stunt.

‘Sinn Fein’s actions are not principled; they are political,’ she said.

‘At precisely the time we need our government to be active, we will have no government and no way to resolve the RHI problems.’

She admits that the RHI scheme is her ‘deepest political regret’, but says ministers should be given more time to reduce its ruinous cost.

‘Let voters give their judgment’