LAST UPDATE | 14 Mar 2022

DUP LEADER JEFFREY Donaldson wants calls for his party to nominate a First Minister to be “parked” to focus on releasing £300 million to ease the cost of living crisis.

The DUP has been under pressure from the other parties to nominate a First Minister to allow the Executive to function for the final weeks of the Assembly term before it is dissolved for fresh elections.

Paul Givan resigned earlier this year as part of the DUP protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol, a move which also removed deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill from the joint office.

Sinn Fein Stormont leader O’Neill said nominating a First Minister is the only way the Executive can agree a budget and release the £300 million.

Donaldson has rejected this, saying there are other options.

He has suggested household rates bills could be cut to help households amid the cost of living crisis.

And speaking to The Journal in New York today, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the fact Donaldson is refusing to nominate is “astonishing”.

McDonald said today that the £300 million cannot be disbursed, adding that her party have told Donaldson and the DUP that they need to re-nominate.

“We want an emergency exceptional meeting simply to disperse this money at a time when people are under pressure,” she said.

In the absence of an agreed budget, departments will have to rely on emergency arrangements to keep day-to-day services running in the 2022/23 financial year.

On Friday, party leaders were briefed by Department of Finance officials on the legal authority of parties to allocate money without Executive approval.

It is understood they were unable to agree how to allocate the £300 million.

On Monday morning, Donaldson wrote to the Executive party leaders to ask for details about bids from the different departments for the money, the PA news agency understands.

He also asked how much of the £300 million each leader wants to ease the cost of living crisis.

In his letter, Donaldson asked leaders to “park” the debate about whether a First Minister is needed and to reach an agreement on what the allocation amounts will be.

Meanwhile, the SDLP is set to try to introduce emergency legislation at Stormont to release the £300m.

McDonald has said Donaldson continues to “dodge” the question as to whether the DUP would be happy to govern in the North should Sinn Féin emerge as the largest party after the next election and with Michelle O’Neill has First Minister.

In “the here and now”, the institutions actually have to work, she said, stating that means the Executive has to work.

“It also means that whoever emerges as the largest party, and there is a chance that might be Sinn Féin for the first time, well then, you know, you respect that, just as we have respected,” she said. 

She recalled when Martin McGuinness went into power with Ian Paisley the first time.

“People were looking to the skyline to see if they were going to see pigs flying along it, but we made that work. The institutions have to work and that requires good faith from everyone,” she added. 

Speaking at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York this afternoon, she also said that “democracy has to be respected”.

After the election in May, it will be the case of “assessing the result, agreeing a programme for Government, rolling up the sleeves and getting back to work,” McDonald said.

The DUP argue for their right to remain within the union of Britain, while her party argues for a united Ireland, she said, adding that “what we both must do is, we have to play by the rule book and the rule book is the Good Friday Agreement”.

The GFA “must be defended. Nobody gets to put it through the shredder because it doesn’t suit them anymore”, McDonald added.

With reporting by Political Correspondent Christina Finn in New York.

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