Vicki Hawthorne: After six months of 'progress' are we closing in on decision time?

“We discussed with him the progress, the significant progress that we have made in those discussions and negotiations with the Government…” These were the words of the DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson after his meeting with the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris at Hillsborough Castle on Monday. He then went on to say ‘further progress has been made’ since Christmas in the talks with the Government and ‘I welcome that progress’.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson first spoke about progress in those talks with the Government over its concerns about the Windsor Framework last Summer. In August Sir Jeffrey said they were ‘making progress’. This was at a time when the parties who could form an Executive were meeting regularly with the Head of the Civil Service about the state of Stormont’s finances. In September the DUP Leader then said: ‘I think we are closer to the point where we have made sufficient progress, but we are not there yet.’ In October ahead of the DUP party conference Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said, ‘some progress’ had been made in the negotiations with the Government. A few weeks later the Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris said the talks were in the ‘final phase’. In November the DUP Leader said, ‘it is the UK Government that can deliver the progress that is needed and we're looking to them now to do that.’ In his New Year message at the end of December Sir Jeffrey Donaldson wrote, ‘In our long and justified campaign we have made progress…’ That message to party faithful was written after the Secretary of State announced to media outside Hillsborough Castle in the week before Christmas that the Government’s talks with the DUP had ‘effectively ended’. Yesterday’s statement from Sir Jeffrey Donaldson that there has now been ‘significant progress’ brings us into the sixth month of apparent progress. The DUP Leader also told the gathered media outside Hillsborough Castle on Monday afternoon ‘we are moving forward now towards the moment when hopefully decisions can be made…’ Sir Jeffrey Donaldson also said in December the DUP was ‘approaching the time’ for a decision on returning to Stormont. The timelines for progress and making decisions in Northern Ireland are long.

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