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A Stormont election in January can be averted if there is political will, Mary Lou McDonald has said.<\/p>\nA Stormont election in January can be averted if there is political will, Mary Lou McDonald has said.<\/p>\n
Westminster has imposed interim measures in order to ensure Northern Ireland\u2019s public services can continue since Stormont collapsed more than 1,000 days ago, however the legislation is due to run out in the new year, and the Secretary of State is bound by duty to call an Assembly election.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the British Irish Council in Dublin on Friday, at which no Northern Ireland representatives were present, Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith said a Stormont election weeks after the General Election would leave Belfast without political direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cJanuary 13 is the deadline, after that Northern Ireland will be without political direction,\u201d Mr Smith said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis situation cannot continue, the people of Northern Ireland need political decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n
It’s my strong view that if there is a political will, from political unionism, from the DUP and the British Government to make a deal then we can actually do that very, very quickly<\/p>\n
The Sinn F\u00e9in President told RTE\u2019s The Week In Politics program she does not agree with Mr Smith\u2019s assessment and believes Stormont will return before the deadline.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t accept for a second, that it won\u2019t come back but it has to come back in a form that is about accountable, clean government. That\u2019s about all of us operating and stepping up to the plate with power-sharing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Northern Secretary should be reminded that it is the British system that has denied elections consistently. I heard his comments and I think his commentary begs the question as to what he is prepared to do now in the very short term, to conclude on all of the outstanding issues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my strong view that if there is a political will, from political unionism, from the DUP and the British Government to make a deal then we can actually do that very, very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
A number of attempts to find a negotiated deal to restore the institutions have ended in failure.<\/p>\n
The last DUP\/Sinn F\u00e9in-led power-sharing coalition imploded in January 2017 when the late Martin McGuinness quit as deputy first minister amid a row about a botched green energy scheme.<\/p>\n
The fallout over the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was soon overtaken by disputes over the Irish language, the region\u2019s ban on same-sex marriage and the toxic legacy of the Troubles.<\/p>\n
A commitment to seeking that a border poll would be held within five years will be one of Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s central demands if it is to enter coalition after the next General Election, Ms McDonald said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrexit was transformational\u2026 it was like a constitutional earthquake, and it has raised questions and a challenge for us in the short term, to protect the Good Friday Agreement and all of the progress that we have made.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt now very directly begs questions around partition \u2013 not just for all of us who live on this island, but now for the entire Europe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
On Saturday night during her leader\u2019s speech at the conclusion of the party\u2019s two-day Ard Fheis in Londonderry, Ms McDonald repeated the stance that Sinn F\u00e9in would be willing to form a government with either of the Irish majority parties, Fianna Fail or Fine Gael, if they could deliver a republican program for government in Dublin.<\/p>\n
Ms McDonald added that the referendum on a united Ireland was simply a question of when.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy call for the forum, and for preparations to start now, is not contingent or dependent upon us being in government \u2013 irrespective of who is in government, these preparations need to start.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms McDonald said she did not think five years is too short a timeframe to hold a referendum on a united Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think if you look to Scotland, in the proper preparations that they made for their referendum. They invested about two years to figure out the nuts and bolts of how to build a new society and how the new arrangement might work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think by establishing such a forum now, we could have substantial work done in two years, two-and-a-half years. I accept that the spade work has to be done and this needs to be an inclusive conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n