Northern Ireland is to have an election after politicians failed to elect a speaker for the Assembly within the six-month deadline set by Westminster.
Chris Heaton-Harris, the minister for Northern Ireland, said that if a Northern Ireland executive is not formed by Friday, then the Assembly must call a snap election
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) collapsed the executive in February after blocking the restoration of power-sharing in its protest against the post-Brexit trading arrangements called the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The Northern Ireland Protocol allows trade to move freely between Northern Ireland and the EU, as well as permitting the exportation of goods into Britain.
But exported goods are to be subjected to trade barriers. This mechanism was agreed in the Brexit deal between the EU and Boris Johnson’s government. Unionist politicians argue this undermines Northern Ireland’s constitutional position in the UK.
On Friday, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson defended his party’s position saying “nothing has moved forward in solving the protocol” since the last Assembly election.
“We’ve had three prime ministers, we’ve had the government changed often and we haven’t seen the progress that is needed,” he said. “We need a further period now to sort this out, get a solution on the protocol... and that will see the institutions restored immediately.
But the DUP’s refusal to form an executive has been criticised. In the House of Lords, former Tory MP Ken Clarke claimed the reason behind the DUP’s position is because “they’ve done badly in the last election and are using the NI Protocol as an excuse for not joining an executive under Sinn Fein leadership”.
Sinn Fein deputy leader, Michelle O’Neil, who was poised to take the first minister role said the “DUP are continuing to deny and disrespect the outcome of the May election”, and that the failure to form an executive is “an insult to workers and families who are struggling to heat their homes”.
SDLP MLA, Matthew O’Toole added: “The DUP seems hellbent on making this place miserable and ungovernable. They are now forcing people to ask whether the only way to make NI work in the long term is a new North, in a new Ireland, inside Europe”.
While alliance leader Naomi Long said: “I am ashamed to be part of this circus yet again. We know that elections in Northern Ireland do not solve problems. They deepen the crisis.”
When is the Northern Ireland election?
Northern Ireland’s chief electoral officer has suggested elections could take place on 15 December.
The statutory 24-week period since the May 2022 elections runs out just after midnight on Friday 28 October.
Mr Heaton-Harris has consistently ruled out any legislative changes to avoid the legal requirement for him to call another election. In oral evidence he submitted to the NI Affairs Committee last week, the secretary of state said: “In this place, I cannot see the space for any emergency legislation, let alone a general will for it.”
Speaking on Thursday, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said he met with Mr Heaton-Harris, expressing concern that calling an election would “waste millions of pounds without solving one single issue”.
Northern Ireland’s Chief Electoral Officer, Virginia McVea, told BBC Radio Foyle that another Stormont election would cost more than £6.5 million.
What has Rishi Sunak said about Northern Ireland?
British prime minister Rishi Sunak had urged the DUP to return to Stormont.
A spokesperson for the government said: “The people of Northern Ireland deserve a fully functioning and locally-elected executive which can respond to the issues facing the communities there.”
In the Republic of Ireland, Irish tánaiste Leo Varadka asked that the DUP should respect the outcome of the May election and to “honour their mandate”.
Earlier this week, Ireland’s taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said there cannot be direct rule from Westminster if the executive fails to be restored. This sparked a reaction from the DUP who interpreted this as an attempt by the taoiseach to install “joint authority” in Northern Ireland - the idea that the Irish government would have a greater role in Northern Ireland’s affairs.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: “I think the Irish government needs to hear this loud and clear, unionists will never accept joint authority, if joint authority is imposed upon us, the Good Friday Agreement is dishonoured completely and is not therefore a basis for us moving forward.”
A joint authority arrangement for the governance of Northern Ireland is “not being considered”, the UK government has said.
How do elections work in Northern Ireland?
Voters in Northern Ireland elect 90 MLAs to sit in Stormont, Northern Ireland’s devolved assembly.
There are 18 multi-member constituencies, where five MLA’s are elected. Elections are conducted under STV, a single transferable vote system of proportional representation.
Voters number their candidates in order of preference which involves transfers of their next preference votes. If their candidate is eliminated, their vote is used to elect someone they prefer over others in the running.
