A MEETING OF senior DUP members on Friday was not a “make or break” moment for deciding whether to return to Stormont, leader Jeffrey Donaldson has said.
Senior DUP figures held discussions on Friday amid mounting speculation the unionist party was preparing to make a call on whether or not to accept a UK government deal.
However, Donaldson has said an agreement with the UK government over post-Brexit trading arrangements, which would allow the powersharing institutions to be restored, has still not been reached.
Instead, he said that he will meet the government again this week to address remaining concerns over the Windsor Framework.
It is understood Donaldson is facing significant opposition from some party officers on whether to accept the UK government’s offer and return to Stormont.
“To date no agreement has been reached in our negotiations with the government and there remains a number of important issues that have to be finalised if we are to see a restored Assembly and executive,” Donaldson said.
“To be clear, we want to see the re-establishment of the executive and Assembly and we’re working towards that objective,” he said.
“The DUP wants to secure an agreement that provides the basis for the institutions to function with stability and in a way that is meaningful for everybody in Northern Ireland.”
The Stormont Assembly has been collapsed for almost two years while the unionist party refuses to participate until its concerns over post-Brexit trading arrangements have been addressed by the UK government.
Senior civil servants are running Stormont departments, with limited powers, in the absence of local ministers.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said before Christmas that his negotiations with the DUP over the Windsor Framework had concluded.
Although the party has been holding out since then for more clarification on the UK government’s proposals, it appears to be approaching the juncture when it decides whether to reject or accept the deal that would end the powersharing deadlock.
Donaldson said the DUP has made “further progress on many of these issues since Christmas” and has “worked constructively” with Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris and his team “on the issues which include matters relating to the Windsor Framework and those elements where we need to see significant improvements”.
The DUP leader said he would be meeting the UK government again this week in an attempt to “close remaining gaps”.
“We will not be giving a detailed and running commentary on our internal meetings and structures except to make clear that we are not negotiating with ourselves, as some have reported, we continue to negotiate with the Government,” Donaldson said.
“On Friday, I provided our party officers with a detailed update on the contacts and discussions we have had with the government and we are of the view that given the progress that has been further secured, that we will endeavour to close the remaining gaps between us,” he said.
“I am very clear that we have made significant progress, but there are a number of outstanding issues that need to be finalised and this week my focus, along with my colleagues, will be on securing that progress so that we reach the moment where we can make a decision,” the DUP leader said.
“But we are not there yet.”
Donaldson was asked if he had been spooked by media coverage of his party meeting on Friday and speculation that it was a “make or break” moment.
He said: “Categorically not, I’m afraid the so-called senior DUP sources who made this claim are ill-informed, they are not people who are around the party officer table, they are not people who are privy to all of the detail that the party officers have been dealing with.”
The officer board includes senior figures such as Donaldson, deputy leader Gavin Robinson, senior peer Nigel Dodds and longstanding MPs Sammy Wilson and Gregory Campbell.
Speaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Friday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said of the DUP meeting: “I hope it’s a positive sign. I certainly can’t speak for the DUP, they speak for themselves, but I am hoping it’s a positive sign.
“We’ll be very keen to see the Assembly and Executive operating again. Certainly, our role as the Irish Government will be to do everything we can to make sure that it’s sustainable, that it’s successful.”
In December, the UK Government offered a £3.3 billion (€3.85 billion) package to stabilise finances in Northern Ireland, including £600 million (€700 million) to settle public sector pay claims.
However, it will only be available when the Stormont institutions are restored and the DUP last Wednesday vetoed a last-ditch effort to restore Stormont ahead of last week’s strikes.
Thousands of public sector workers took part in strike action on Thursday, where calls were made for Heaton-Harris to release the funds for pay claims and for the DUP to return to Stormont.
Includes reporting by Press Association
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