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Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party foiled a fresh attempt on Wednesday to recall the Stormont assembly and restore the power-sharing executive on the eve of a historic strike over public sector pay set to paralyse the region.
The pro-UK Democratic Unionist party’s refusal to lift its boycott came as many as 170,000 workers were preparing for a day of action on Thursday to press the UK government to release £600mn in cash earmarked for public sector pay rises, which has been frozen since the collapse of Stormont almost two years ago.
Chris Heaton-Harris, the UK’s Northern Ireland secretary, called the continued Stormont stalemate “disappointing” and said the government would implement a “pragmatic and reasonable approach to support Northern Ireland” in the absence of an executive.
First minister-designate Michelle O’Neill of the nationalist Sinn Féin party, which is now the biggest in Northern Ireland, said she feared the region’s political institutions were now “in free-fall”.
Union leaders said up to 80 per cent of workers in the public sector, which accounts for more than a quarter of the region’s jobs, are expected to back the action, making it the biggest strike in a generation. Teachers and nurses are among staff who plan to walk out.
Heaton-Harris has refused to release the £600mn from a £3.3bn package for the region unveiled before Christmas. He insists all the cash is contingent on Stormont’s return.
The day of action coincides with a legal deadline for the UK government to call fresh elections if the power-sharing in Northern Ireland remains on ice. The UK government is expected to legislate next week to delay elections and to introduce a new decision-making process involving UK officials and local civil servants but stopping short of direct rule from London.
The DUP has blocked repeated attempts to restore the region’s legislature since it triggered the collapse of the power-sharing arrangements in February 2022 in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements.
Earlier this week, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson had hailed “significant progress” in talks with the British government in meeting his party’s demands to safeguard Northern Ireland’s place in the UK and ability to trade with the mainland.
But some UK officials were less optimistic that Donaldson would change course and agree to restore the regional institutions. They said he was fearful of triggering further splits in the DUP after an internal revolt had forced him into a U-turn on backing a return to Stormont before Christmas.
“Jeffrey won’t do the deal. He’s seen too many of his predecessors make compromises and then get thrown under a bus,” said one with knowledge of the talks. The DUP did not immediately comment.
Jayne Brady, head of Northern Ireland’s Civil Service — which is running the region based on budgets set by London — urged Heaton-Harris to provide an “immediate budget allocation” for public sector workers.
But union leaders warned it was too late to call off the strike. “I don’t see how much longer [Heaton-Harris] can refuse to release the funds. He’s the man who controls the purse strings,” said Gerry Murphy, assistant general secretary at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
Carmel Gates, general secretary of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance, said there was a “serious question” over whether the £600mn would be enough to cover this year’s pay awards as well as settle lingering pay disputes from 2022-23. “The potential is building up for further action in the future,” she warned.
Heaton-Harris told the House of Commons earlier on Wednesday that the “extremely generous” £3.3bn package remained available once Stormont was restored. But he stressed it was for local political leaders to balance the competing pressures of salaries and stretched public services. “Every penny spent on pay is a penny that is not spent on services,” he said.
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