Is Stormont heading for stalemate?

By Martina Purdy BBC NI political correspondent

There are fears business at Stormont is being held up

There are growing signs of political stalemate and indecision within the Stormont Executive.

For a start, while negotiations are ongoing about devolving policing and justice power, other meetings are going by the wayside.

One insider claimed Sinn Fein's demand to transfer policing and justice powers to Stormont by the autumn was shifting the focus away from other executive business.

Within the past fortnight, several meetings were cancelled at short notice.

One involved the minister's "special advisors" - what's known on the hill as a "minreps' meeting."

As dull as these meetings can be, one insider complained bitterly that once again the discussions had been postponed, even though there were 20 draft papers still be to agreed.

Others claim the number of issues to be signed off is closer to 30 or more.

Yet at the last minute on Thursday last week, following a lot of unofficial speculation, the executive meeting was postponed.

Negotiations on the devolution of policing powers are ongoing

"This was a long-standing meeting," according to one insider who dismissed as "spin" the suggestion this meeting had only been pencilled in.

The source said the system was becoming farcical.

"It's not just that meetings are being cancelled at short notice," they said.

"Papers aren't arriving until maybe an hour before the meeting. You're not getting a chance to consider them."

Margaret Ritchie, the social development minister, who had intended to table three bills at the meeting, including one on housing, was so incensed she wrote to the office of first and deputy first minister seeking assurances that the 24 July meeting will go ahead.

Sir Reg Empey is also concerned, and is among a range of sources blaming Sinn Fein for the backlog of outstanding issues.

The employment and learning minister said the battle between the DUP and Sinn Fein is causing problems.

He claimed Gerry Adams' party was trying to get agreement on a range of issues in exchange for the DUP's cooperation on devolving policing and justice and an Irish Language Act.

'Sinn Fein tactics'

It sounds a bit like the formula for the Good Friday negotiations: "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed."

Sir Reg called it "classic Sinn Fein tactics".

He told the BBC: "The backing-up is not simply an administrative problem- it's a political problem.

"There is disagreement on key issues and people are playing one issue off against the other in order to get their way."

A senior SDLP source put it another way: "The DUP is putting a veto on the devolution of justice and the Irish language and Sinn Fein is throwing the toys out of the pram saying we are clearing nothing until you guys realise this is not just a DUP government."

A Sinn Fein source denied the party was blocking agreement executive meetings, insisting it was working to reach a consensus on the outstanding issues.

Some of the pressing issues not agreed as yet include the proposed Maze stadium, post-primary education, the proposed education and skills authority, PPS14 planning policy to restrict building in the countryside and water charges.

David Ford, the Alliance leader, claimed the executive had put off difficult decisions and was now paying the price.

"There seems to be real problems at the top. There are real questions as to whether the current system of power-sharing really works well and whether the current personalities are prepared to work it."

Professor Rick Wilford, from Queen's University's politics department, said problems are being posed by the fact the DUP cannot be sure of Sinn Fein's commitment to power-sharing.

We've seen a variety of signals particularly from Gerry Adams that he is prepared to pull the plug Professor Rick Wilford

He pointed to recent implied threats by Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams who, concerned by the failure to implement an Irish language act as promised at St Andrews, spoke of meltdown.

Professor Wilford said: "We've seen a variety of signals particularly from Gerry Adams that he is prepared, I think, to pull the plug.

"That is going to increase and enhance the pressure to try and get agreement on some sticky problems fairly quickly.

"If Adams is true to implied threats being voiced we could be in for a very sticky period indeed over the new few months and it is not inconceivable (the executive) could unravel."

Sir Reg Empey said he would not overstate the problem, but the danger from his point of view is that public confidence in devolution would diminish.

"It's not good for government," he said.

"I mean when we have local institutions with the potential to take local decisions and take them quicker and we now find that our meetings are pulled at the last minute and people look at us what kind of a crowd are we? ...I think we are doing ourselves enormous damage."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version