The DUP is waiting for a response from the UK government on proposals around the Windsor Framework, while Sinn Féin has challenged the party to end the “blockade” of Stormont.
The Northern Ireland Assembly has been in flux for more than a year since the DUP withdrew first minister Paul Givan as it pressed the UK government to address unionist concerns around post-Brexit arrangements.
Appearing at the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on Wednesday, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said his party had submitted a document to the UK government which was understood to outline what it needed to re-enter Stormont.
The Windsor Framework is due to come into force in October.
“We have put that paper to the government. We want to give the government time to respond to that and I think it’s important we respect the integrity of that process,” he told MPs.
“We’ll see what the government responds with and then we can determine what we say publicly, obviously, the outcome of this process will become a matter of public record, it has to do, but I want to ensure that we get the right outcome.”
Mr Donaldson said his party was looking for “protection for the ability of Northern Ireland’s businesses to trade with the rest of the UK in the event that there’s future divergence between UK law and EU law”.
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say to the government of the United Kingdom, we need to ensure that where divergence may occur in the future between EU law which applies to the manufacture of goods in Northern Ireland and UK law, that the government will ensure that we can continue to have access to the internal market of the United Kingdom and the changes to either UK law or EU law will not inhibit our ability to trade within our own country,” he said.
“That in essence is what we’re looking for.”
Since Mr Givan resigned in February 2022, an Assembly election saw Sinn Féin overtake the DUP to become the largest party.
This means Sinn Féin is currently entitled to nominate the next first minister, and the DUP to nominate the next deputy first minister.
But the Assembly has remained effectively collapsed while the DUP refuses to participate.
Mr Donaldson told MPs that he wanted to see devolution restored, and rejected claims by some that his party was reluctant to re-enter Stormont.
“There are some who allege that the DUP’s reluctance to go back into powersharing is because of the way in which the first minister and deputy first minister will operate going forward. They are joint offices. When devolution returns, we will nominate a minister to that office. We are very clear about that, that is not the issue for us,” he said.
He insisted his decision to withdraw Mr Givan as first minister in February 2022 was “proportionate”.
“It was with great reluctance that I took the decision in February 2022 to withdraw the first minister,” he told MPs.
“I felt it was a proportionate decision that would buy time to allow for negotiation to take place whilst all the departmental ministers remained in place, albeit the Executive itself couldn’t meet, but at least there were ministers in post and that enabled a degree of decision-making within government departments.”
Time for DUP delays and excuses over – @ConorMurphySF https://t.co/wnqs0QpukV pic.twitter.com/fKhmy8fJiT
— Sinn Féin (@sinnfeinireland) June 28, 2023
Mr Donaldson said he had hoped that would have prompted “meaningful engagement and negotiation leading to solutions in terms of the concerns that unionists have about the agreement”.
He stressed the importance of consensus in Northern Ireland politics, quoting former SDLP leader John Hume, and said the Northern Ireland Protocol had “seriously undermined” consensus.
But Sinn Féin MLA Conor Murphy has called on the DUP to “end its blockade of the political institutions”.
“The time for excuses and delay is long past. What the public need to hear now from Jeffrey Donaldson and the DUP is that they are ending their blockade and going back to work,” he said.
“The onus is on Jeffrey Donaldson to act in the public interest and stop putting his party before the people who want and deserve government and the proper delivery of public services.
“Sinn Féin stands ready to form an Executive today, and to work together with all the parties to support public services and deliver for the people we collectively represent.”
