Northern Ireland’s FM admits her regret at £400m scheme overspend
NORTHERN Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster has faced down a motion of no confidence after a mass walkout from the Assembly chamber.
Democratic Unionist Arlene Foster defied repeated calls for her to stand down pending the outcome of an investigation into her role in a botched renewable heat scheme that has landed Stormont with an estimated £400million overspend.
Mrs Foster described the renewable heat incentive (RHI) affair as her “deepest political regret”, but insisted she was going nowhere.
“I remain as committed today as I did on the day I was elected as First Minister to fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith,” she said. The SDLP’s motion of no confidence was supported by most voting MLAs (39-36) but was defeated because it did not secure the required level of cross-community support, due to DUP opposition.
While the DUP’s partner in government Sinn Fein has also called for Mrs Foster to stand down, its members did not vote in the debate, instead proposing its own motion on the RHI scandal for mid-January. That move eased fears of an immediate threat to the political institutions, though the crisis is far from over.
Sinn Fein and the DUP are set to hold talks on the way forward in coming days.
Ahead of the motion of no confidence, all non-DUP members of the Assembly walked out of the chamber amid an acrimonious row over Mrs Foster’s right to make a statement without the required approval of Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
Mrs Foster made her statement to empty benches with only party colleagues for company. Mr McGuinness branded the episode a “shambles”.