The return of devolved government in Northern Ireland is not inevitable and depends on how the UK Government responds to DUP concerns about the Windsor Framework, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said.
The DUP leader was speaking as party leaders held a meeting at Stormont Castle to discussion preparations for the restoration of the Assembly.
But Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy said the discussions would only have value when the DUP took the decision to bring back the powersharing institutions.
The Stormont Assembly has been in flux for more than a year amid DUP protest action over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The Windsor Framework was agreed by the EU and UK earlier this year as a way to reduce red tape on trade between GB and NI.
But the DUP has insisted it will not return to Stormont until the Government provides further legislative assurances around Northern Ireland’s place within the UK internal market.
None of this means that the restoration of devolution is inevitable – that requires the Government now to respond to the concerns that we have raised with them about what we feel are shortcomings in the Windsor Framework— Sir Jeffrey Donaldson
Speaking following the weekly leaders’ meeting with the head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, Jayne Brady, Sir Jeffrey said he has put proposals in a paper to the UK government around the framework and awaits their response.
He said there had been a “useful conversation about the preparations for the return of devolved government”.
“We’re content to continue engaging in those kind of conversations and doing some ground work now so that if and when an Executive is restored we can hit the ground running in terms of tackling issues that need to be prioritised,” he said.
“Obviously none of this means that the restoration of devolution is inevitable – that requires the Government now to respond to the concerns that we have raised with them about what we feel are shortcomings in the Windsor Framework in relation to the UK internal market, the management and operation of the UK internal market.
“So we’re waiting on the Government to come back to us and respond to those concerns and to the specific proposals we have put to them.”
Asked for a potential timescale for Stormont returning, Sir Jeffrey said: “I see no reason why we can’t in the next few weeks make real progress.
“The timetable is outside our gift, it’s really down to the Government now to respond to the issues we have put forward.
“That in some parts will require legislation and hopefully that legislation can be brought before Parliament quickly.”
Mr Murphy said the discussions had focused on the formation of an executive and budgetary issues.
He added: “These will only have any value if we actually take a decision to have an executive back in place, that is the conversation we want to be having.
“While these discussions are useful preparation, the real discussion will only take place when the DUP signal they are intending to return to the executive.”Mr Murphy added: “There is one party leader has a decision to take. We have heard about the five point plan, the eight-person panel, the seven tests, we now have an 18-page document.
“There is one decision to be taken, that people who are waiting on cancer treatments and other medical services, people who are trying to get their kids through special education programmes, there is one decision that they want to hear from Jeffrey Donaldson, that is that he is going to lead from the front and actually listen to the public and take a decision to go back into government.”
Alliance Party deputy leader Stephen Farry said the meeting had included discussions about a potential request to the UK Government about a financial package for Northern Ireland.
He added: “This phase of the process is coming to an end but we don’t really have a political process to take this forward.
“That is a source of massive frustration, not just for us, but I daresay for the people of Northern Ireland who want to see a government in place.
“We have to have a negotiation with the UK Government, that would be best done from a sitting executive, or in the teeth of a restored executive.”
Mr Farry warned that the situation should not be allowed to drift over the summer.
Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said: “We are really moving on to now where the political decisions can be made.
“A lot of work has been done here by the civil service on things like the programme for government, the deficit in our finances.
“But we are now in a place where we are going to have to make political decisions and that is going to take political leaders getting in a room together and making those decisions.
“That is the direction we are now moving, and that is likely to take place over the next number of weeks and months to try and get something in place before we have the investment conference in September.”
