Bid to elect Northern Ireland Assembly speaker fails after Stormont recall

Sinn Féin MLA Michelle O'Neill and DUP MLA Gordon Lyons address the Stormont chamber.

A bid to elect a new Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly has failed.

MLAs returned to Stormont on Wednesday ahead of the deadline to restore devolved government and Thursday's general strike.

Around 170,000 people are expected to join picket lines across Northern Ireland from various sectors in what is thought to be the biggest mass strike action in the history of NI.

Nominations to elect Mike Nesbitt of the Ulster Unionist Party or Patsy McGlone of the SDLP to the role failed to get the support of the DUP.

Acting Speaker Alan Chambers said that because of the failure to elect a Speaker, no further business could take place and the session was suspended.

Commenting on the failure of the Northern Ireland Assembly to elect a speaker, Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris said: “It is disappointing that the Assembly was unable to elect a speaker and restore the Northern Ireland Executive today. 

“The return of a locally elected, accountable and effective devolved government is the best way to govern Northern Ireland. 

“However, in the absence of an Executive, the Government will proceed with a pragmatic and reasonable approach to support Northern Ireland.”

The DUP refused to support the election of a speaker because of its opposition to the Windsor Framework, but the Sinn Féin deputy leader questioned the DUP's motives.

Michelle O'Neill also warned Wednesday's recall of Stormont could be the last sitting of the Assembly.

She said: “Regrettably, the approach of the DUP leader is jeopardising vital public services, including health and education, with no clear explanation for stalling executive formation.

“If Jeffrey Donaldson does not change his approach, then this sitting may well be the final one of this assembly.

“I fear that the democratic institutions of the Good Friday Agreement are in freefall. While this is reprehensible, those are the hard facts before us."

DUP MLA Gordon Lyons called the recall a "cynically orchestrated" stunt

He told the Stormont chamber: “It has been cynically orchestrated to coincide with the industrial action scheduled across our public sector.

“This has been done in an attempt to make the public believe that the restoration of the assembly today will lead to the cancellation of the strikes tomorrow.

“Sinn Fein know full well that there is no prospect of a speaker being elected today. They know there will be no ministers nominated today.

“They know that if even those do happen, the pay issue will not be settled today but will be subject to negotiation. It is disingenuous to suggest otherwise.”

Alliance leader Naomi Long has again called for the Stormont institutions to be reformed.

“While the focus today is rightly on the boycott of the DUP, I say this to other party leaders – there is no point coming to this chamber bemoaning the bind in which we find ourselves time and time again, whilst simultaneously defending and refusing to address the structural weaknesses that enable it," she said.

“The only conceivable reason any party would want to retain the power to collapse these institutions is if they intend to use it or the threat of it to subvert normal democratic process.

“I want the institutions restored as soon as possible, but more, I want them reformed so that no single party can ever again hold these institutions and, with them the best interests and future of our people, to ransom.

“Because it is those who live in this community who suffer as a result of repeated collapses. Our inability to sustain government has impeded public sector reform.”

Ulster Unionist MLA Robbie Butler said: “The blame for the impact of the strikes – and I will not mince my words today as I may not get a chance to speak in this chamber again – the blame lies squarely with the DUP.

“I don’t think the blame lies squarely with every member, less so with the MLAs here.

“If I was a betting man, I would wager that most of the people to my right haven’t even seen the deal that is on offer (from the UK Government).

“In my opinion, the blockage lies with a small number of DUP MPs and Lords who are far removed from the impact on public services and lives here in Northern Ireland.”

SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole said: “Tomorrow, true public servants some 170,000 of them, will forego a day’s pay they can ill afford in order to stand in freezing temperatures, not for an exorbitant pay rise but for the modest deal that has already been promised to them and not delivered.

“These are real public servants, unlike some in this chamber and elsewhere who stand for election, they take seriously the trust that is placed in them and the service they perform.

“These are the nurses and health professionals who save lives and provide the care we need at some point in our lives and all of us will need in the future.”

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