London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Stormont stalemate: Northern Ireland fails to restore power-sharing

Stormont stalemate: Northern Ireland fails to restore power-sharing

A fifth attempt to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland since May's assembly election has failed.

The attempt to elect a speaker was blocked by the Democratic Unionist Party as part of its ongoing protest against Brexit trading arrangements.

NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he would implement new powers to cut assembly members' salaries "very soon".

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has suggested that pay cut would take effect from January.

Mr Heaton-Harris confirmed he would implement a 27% cut "very, very soon", after a law giving him the power to cut Stormont salaries came into effect on Tuesday night.

Mr Coveney told Evening Extra: "I hope that the decision around that - which won't take effect until January - will be very short lived because we have to find a way to get devolved institutions back up and running again, which will make salary a non issue."

The new law also means the NI secretary is under a new legal obligation to call a fresh Stormont election, which would take place no later than 13 April if the institutions are not restored by mid-January.

The legislation also clarifies the limited decision-making powers provided to civil servants while there is no Northern Ireland Executive in operation.


'A farce'


The assembly sat on Wednesday after a Sinn Féin recall request - a move backed by the Alliance Party and the Social Democratic and Labour Party.

The motion called on the DUP to end its boycott of power-sharing to help deal with the cost-of-living crisis.

But the DUP again refused to vote for any of the candidates for Speaker - a position that must be filled before any other business can be heard.

Northern Ireland has been without a functioning government since February, when the DUP walked out of the first minister's role in protest against the protocol.

Sinn Féin won the largest number of seats in May's election, but no new power-sharing executive could be formed due to the DUP's ongoing boycott.

Unionist politicians argue the post-Brexit trading arrangement undermines Northern Ireland's position in the UK.

It keeps Northern Ireland aligned with some EU trade rules to ensure goods can move freely across the Irish land border.

Negotiations between the UK government and the EU to resolve differences over the protocol are continuing.

The last failed recall was in October, ahead of a deadline to restore power-sharing.


'Whinging like a girl' criticism


Speaking on Wednesday, Sinn Féin's would-be first minister, Michelle O'Neill, accused the DUP of abandoning the public "to a Tory government intent on inflicting cuts and austerity in society".

"We do not have months to ponder, but rather weeks to take action and create stability and certainty for society, businesses and politics," she said.

The DUP's Gordon Lyons said the recall was "nothing more than a farce".

"Devolution needs a firm foundation to succeed and that foundation will never be in place as long as the issues around the protocol are unresolved," he said.

The Alliance Party's Kellie Armstrong said she did not expect the DUP to end its boycott.

"I expect every household in Northern Ireland to face a cold winter without the same level of help that is being provided to others across the UK," she said.

The SDLP's Matthew O'Toole accused the DUP of "always shirking, always deflecting, it's always somebody else's fault".

"The tragedy is that the DUP are addicted to power but hate responsibility," he said.

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie landed himself in hot water with some of his comments


Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie described the recall of the assembly as gesture politics which was born out of frustration.

"The reality is this, like three years before with Sinn Féin, the DUP simply do not care", he said.

He accused the DUP and Sinn Féin as "two sides of the same damn coin".

But Mr Beattie faced criticism after accusing some DUP members of screaming and "whinging like a girl from the side lines".

Lagan Valley assembly member Emma Little-Pengelly tweeted that she was proud "of the many strong girls and women" she knows.

A new law giving the Irish language official status, also received Royal Assent on Tuesday.

The culture, language and identity bill will allow the use of Irish in courts and see the appointment of Irish and Ulster Scots/Ulster British commissioners.


Doug Beattie under fire for 'whine like a girl' remarks


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×