DUP LEADER JEFFREY Donaldson has confirmed that more financial support for Northern Ireland is part of discussions with the UK Government.

The region is facing cuts in the latest budget which was set by Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris in the absence of locally elected ministers.

There have been no functioning devolved institutions since last year when the DUP withdrew in protest over the post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland.

The UK Government and EU unveiled the Windsor Framework earlier this year as a means of resolving difficulties caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol, but the DUP has said its concerns must be met before it returns to government. 

Speaking at the launch of the Trade NI report at Westminster this afternoon, Donaldson said he expects the UK Government to bring forward legislation to address unionist concerns around the Northern Ireland Protocol.

“We’re discussing a range of issues with the Government, not least our budgetary challenges in Northern Ireland as well as the need to address the problems created by the protocol and where we feel the Windsor Framework falls short of providing that solution,” Donaldson said. 

“As to quantum (for a financial package for Northern Ireland) there is nothing clear at this stage but I think what is evident from the Treasury is that they want to see proposals from Northern Ireland about invest to reform our public services as well as giving us the extra funding we need to deliver for those public services,” he said. 

“The Government knows what is needed and I believe the Government will bring forward what is required.”

Donaldson also confirmed thhat more financial support for Northern Ireland is part of discussions with the Government.

“Of course, it has to be if we’re to see an Executive restored on a sustainable and stable basis, that’s not just about resolving the issues around the Windsor Framework and the Northern Ireland Protocol, it is also about ensuring that we’ve got the resource to make the reforms that we need in Northern Ireland and to deliver healthcare, education and all the other vital public services,” Donaldson said.

“We are developing a range of proposals for the Government, they are aware of the outline of what it is we need,” he said. 

“It’s not just for the DUP, it’s for Northern Ireland, we need to ensure that when Stormont is restored it can deliver, that the foundations are solid and that the Assembly and Executive is sustainable. That’s what I’m in the business of delivering.”

The UK Parliament was today considering the Northern Ireland (Interim Arrangements) Bill.

Civil servants at Stormont have already been handed some extra powers to take decisions usually reserved for ministers and the Bill seeks to extend those powers beyond their current expiration date of 5 June.

‘Clear message’

Last week’s local elections in the region saw Sinn Féin emerge as the largest party in local government for the first time in Northern Ireland, replicating its result in the Assembly election last year when it became the biggest party at Stormont.

While the DUP lost its position as the largest party at council level, it consolidated its position as the main unionist party by winning the same number of seats as it secured in the last local government election in 2019.

The party has insisted the election result has reinforced its mandate to seek further concessions from the UK government on the vexed trading dispute.

But Sinn Féin has insisted the electorate has made clear it wants a return to devolution without any further delay.

The republican party has called for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to convene a meeting of the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference (BIIC) to chart a path back to powersharing.

Responding to a question from Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald in the Dáil today, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that the people of Northern Ireland have sent a clear message that they want powersharing back up and running.

Varadkar said that he and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would do all they could to help restore the devolved institutions in Belfast.

But he cautioned that the power to resurrect the Stormont Assembly and Executive currently lay with the DUP.

“The message is clear from the people of Northern Ireland, that they want the Executive up and running, and they want the enormous problems that they face on a day to day basis dealt with by their politicians,” the Taoiseach said. 

“We will be working together to do all that we can to ensure that the Assembly, the Executive, the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are back up and running again,” he said.

“But as you know as well as I do, the rules allow the two major parties – Sinn Féin and the DUP – to block that from happening, the DUP are currently the ones who are blocking it,” Varadkar said. 

“But we’re going to work together with the UK Government to do all that we can to have it up and running as soon as possible.”

Includes reporting by Press Association