LAST UPDATE | 30 Jan
FOR A WHILE now, I have been calling it ‘Donaldson’s Trimble Moment’ — not to suggest anything as heavy as the weights carried by the late Ulster Unionist leader on Good Friday 1998, but for Sir Jeffrey Donaldson this was the biggest test of his political leadership.
Would he, could he, return the DUP to the Stormont Executive in the face of significant opposition from both inside and outside his party?
The answer is yes – delivered in words he spoke after midnight and after a detailed briefing to the party’s Executive, outlining his negotiations with the UK Government.
Soon, all of the plays of the past two years will be overtaken by something else, as Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Féin steps into the position of First Minister, in an office of equals, but in a place where titles always matter.
First Minister sounds better than deputy First Minister, the position the DUP is now relegated to in the changing politics of the North and after the results of the May 2022 Assembly Election.
The past two years have been about post-Brexit trading arrangements, about the so-called Irish Sea border, about Northern Ireland’s status within the Union — about things that created something of a ‘constitutional crisis’.
It was a tough lesson that politics is not just about what you want (Brexit), but what comes with it — the Protocol, the Windsor Framework, the sea border and the convulsion that has been this latest long standoff at Stormont.
We wait now for the UK Government to publish legislation to see how many of the DUP’s seven tests have been met; and to hear not just Donaldson’s assessment of that, but what others have to say.
Tests in negotiations become hooks, and how to get off them has been the challenge of this negotiation.
I understand NIO officials have now briefed @uuponline leader @BeattieDoug on legislation that would be part of any deal to restore Stormont Executive.
— Brian Rowan (@BrianPJRowan) January 29, 2024
Meeting happened earlier in Belfast.
Beattie accompanied by party delegation.
On Monday, with things moving within our politics, the Northern Ireland Office finally briefed the Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie on the proposed legislation.
The building anger in his voice in recent weeks must have finally pierced the walls of the NIO.
And it will be interesting now to hear his assessment of that legislation, and how generous, or otherwise he is, to the DUP when giving his verdict on how it compares with the seven tests.
Recently, inside this negotiation, there has been a sense of things being in a better place; of there being a chance of getting a deal over the line.
That Donaldson was close to a decision, and in turn, the UK Government had set a new, and short deadline, of 8 February.
It is something I spoke about on the Explainer Podcast last week.
The deal that we now wait to see being sequenced and implemented is not just about what will change in relation to the post-Brexit trading arrangements, but includes a significant financial package of £3 billion-plus put on the table by the UK Government, but conditional on the Northern Ireland Executive being restored.
It is for public sector pay, to address an overspend and to help transform public services; there will be new tiles on the fiscal floor.
It is yet another new start for this place.
NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has been the UK Government’s face and voice in this negotiation, but in the background former Secretary of State Julian Smith, who with then Tánaiste Simon Coveney managed the last rescue mission in 2020, has again been a significant player.
I really welcome the statement from @J_Donaldson_MP
— Julian Smith MP (@JulianSmithUK) January 30, 2024
Today marks an exciting new dawn for Northern Ireland - a day of hope and excitement for this unique part of our country. Onward! pic.twitter.com/PmBD33W1pg
There was a small protest outside that DUP Executive meeting last night, and a running commentary on social media.
Donaldson ignored that. Held his ground.
And has manoeuvred his party back in the direction of Stormont.
There are bigger challenges to come.
A deal to restore the Northern Ireland Executive is a low bar.
How to finally achieve a politics that works, how to take the drama out of Stormont, is the bigger task; the hard work yet to be done.
In the 25 years since Good Friday, our politics has struggled in the peace.
We now need a wide ranging review that asks the question: Why?
Stormont for the sake of Stormont is not worth having.
Brian Rowan is a journalist and author. He is a former BBC correspondent in Belfast. Brian is the author of several books on Northern Ireland’s peace process. His new book, “Political Purgatory – The Battle to Save Stormont and the Play for a New Ireland” is out now at Merrion Press.
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