At 1.30am this morning, the leader of the DUP, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP, addressed a press conference at a whiskey distillery 15 miles outside Belfast stating that the party would now work towards the restoration of the NI Assembly and Executive.
The offer of £3.3 billion from the UK government to kick start the reestablishment of the devolved Assembly will now likely be unlocked on the basis that everyone can agree, which will see the DUP taking up their seats at Stormont after a two-year hiatus. The money will be a welcome boost after the sustained pressures of a heavily publicised public sector pay dispute, running down of services and a less than impressive ‘levelling up’ programme from our friends at Westminster.
There will be a sigh of relief from those tasked with policy and legislative development within agencies and organisations not only locally, but across the UK and Ireland. For too long we have had to muddle through and work to the law of diminishing returns as the lack of Ministerial direction and sign off, budget constraints and political paralysis meant that we just about kept the lights on. Huge challenges and problems remain, some exacerbated by the gap in functioning devolved government, but there is real opportunity to get the show on the road again.
Now the challenge of setting a new Programme for Government comes into play and the tinkering with a Budget to meet the needs of the issues not addressed in the last 24 months. In that time, there have been conversations not only about the reforms needed to make government in Northern Ireland more sustainable, and less flimsy, but the need to raise tax revenue locally and be less dependent on UK government subsidy. It has been likened to fixing the wing of an aeroplane at 35,000 feet, but serious thought will need to be given to ensure that we don’t see ourselves in a similar position any time soon.
Dependent on the British Government and the Northern Ireland Office being able to make the legislative changes (via Statutory Instruments) needed by the DUP to get them fully over the line and back up the hill to Stormont, things are likely to move quickly around these parts. The DUP made a smart move in futureproofing any changes they require with the Labour front bench, knowing that the Conservative Party might be on borrowed time as the General Election looms large.
There is now real momentum in getting the Assembly back and sitting by Friday or Saturday with Ministers nominated and in place ready to rock from next Monday. We’ll drink to that.
by Chris Brown, Manging Director & Founder, Brown O’Connor Public Affairs, Belfast