No snap election in Northern Ireland in December, UK secretary announces

LONDON

Britain’s Northern Ireland secretary on Friday confirmed that there will be no election in December, ahead of the holiday season, but pledged an announcement of unspecified “next steps.”

Chris Heaton-Harris said in a statement that he would “lay out” these steps next week, ending speculation that a snap vote could be held in mid-December, just before Christmas.

Last week Heaton-Harris had announced that a snap election would be held in Northern Ireland after Northern Irish politicians failed to form a devolved government before a deadline.

“At midnight on 28 October, I came under a duty to call an Assembly election,” he said in a statement.

“Since then, my engagement with the political parties has continued.”

He said: "I have had valuable conversations with people across Northern Ireland, including business and community representatives. I have listened to their sincere concerns about the impact and cost of an election at this time.”

“I can now confirm that no Assembly election will take place in December, or ahead of the festive season. Current legislation requires me to name a date for an election to take place within 12 weeks of 28 October and next week, I will make a statement in Parliament to lay out my next steps.

“My objective, what the people of Northern Ireland deserve, is the restoration of a strong devolved government. My duty is to create the right environment for the parties in Northern Ireland to work together to restore the devolved institutions and deliver on crucial issues impacting Northern Ireland’s people.

“I do not take this duty lightly, nor do I overlook the very real concerns people have around their cost of living.”

The nationalist and unionist parties, Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), failed to reach an agreement on forming a new devolved government within six months after the May 5 election.

The DUP last week blocked efforts to form a new Executive due to their ongoing stance on the Northern Ireland Protocol – an addendum to the UK’s EU Withdrawal Agreement which keeps Northern Ireland aligned with EU trade rules to avoid a hard border with Ireland.

The Northern Ireland Assembly held a last-minute sitting to see if a deal could be struck between nationalist Sinn Fein and the DUP to form the new devolved government six months after the election, but it was unsuccessful.

Sinn Fein secured a historic victory in May, winning a majority of 27 seats in Stormont, making it the first nationalist party to take control of the assembly in its century of existence.

According to the Northern Ireland-specific law and the latest election result, a power-sharing devolved government can only be formed under an agreement between Sinn Fein and the DUP.

Sinn Fein nominated the party’s Vice President Michelle O’Neill as the new first minister, but the DUP repeatedly refused to nominate a deputy and said it would not change its stance unless the Northern Ireland Protocol is scrapped.

Northern Ireland Protocol

The thorny issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol has played a huge part in the making of the new Executive since the election.

The DUP has consistently said it will not enter the Executive unless there is “substantial reform” to the protocol, which they believe creates a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK are subject to checks to protect the European free market.

The hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland had ceased to exist with the 1998 Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, an international treaty that ended decades of sectarian violence in the region.

The central UK government in London has said the protocol, which was signed by Britain and the EU to be able to reach a Brexit deal, was causing problems a few months after and requested from the bloc a renegotiation on the specific deal. The EU has repeatedly said it would not renegotiate it and that the UK must observe the rules of the agreement.

Last week new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “restated his preference for exploring a negotiated solution to the current issues” of the protocol in a phone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, reiterating the point of his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.