{"id":26474,"date":"2022-06-07T11:07:15","date_gmt":"2022-06-07T15:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26474"},"modified":"2022-06-07T11:07:18","modified_gmt":"2022-06-07T15:07:18","slug":"political-parties-meet-with-civil-service-head-amid-executive-impasse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26474","title":{"rendered":"Political Parties Meet With Civil Service Head Amid Executive Impasse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Sinn F\u00e9in Vice President Michelle O\u2019Neill (PA Wire\/PA Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Stormont parties have met with the head of the Northern Ireland civil service Jayne Brady amid the continuing impasse over forming a new Executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A future program for government and a budget were discussed by the parties, which are entitled to nominate ministers following last month\u2019s Assembly election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new Executive has not yet been formed, with the DUP saying it will not nominate ministers until the UK government takes action over its concerns around the Northern Ireland Protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post-Brexit trade arrangements have been opposed by unionists as a border in the Irish Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While ministers remain in place in a caretaker role, they cannot take new decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A LucidTalk poll in Tuesday\u2019s Belfast Telegraph found that three-quarters of unionist voters believe the DUP should not return to government at Stormont until there are at least \u201csignificant changes\u201d to the protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further detail on proposed legislation which may override sections of the protocol is expected to emerge later this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinn F\u00e9in Stormont leader Michelle O\u2019Neill said she regrets that

buy-kamagra-oral-jellies.com<\/a><\/div> , five weeks after the Assembly election, the DUP is \u201cstill boycotting\u201d the Executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said issues with the protocol can be \u201cworked on in tandem\u201d with talks on smoothing the protocol while the Stormont Executive functions and urged the DUP to nominate ministers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe parties met this morning with the head of the civil service. We were discussing the need to agree a program for government, agree a budget, agree a work plan for the year ahead,\u201d she told media at Belfast City Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou only can take those things so far, of course, because we do not have a functioning Assembly and an Executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI regret that, that we\u2019re five weeks post election where the people voted for parties to work together and here we are today, where the DUP are still boycotting the formation of an Executive which would allow us to actually respond to the things that really troubling people right now, the cost of living crisis, the things that are really worrying people about the difficult months that we have ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo even at this stage I still again today call on the DUP to join the rest of the parties who actually want to agree a program for government, agree a budget, prioritize our health service, prioritize putting money in people\u2019s pockets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause even as we speak today, whilst there has been announcements from Treasury over the course of recent weeks, we still don\u2019t know, and Conor as our Finance Minister, still doesn\u2019t know how that money is actually going to get into people\u2019s pockets because we do not have an Executive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s a tolerable situation and I encourage the DUP to join with the rest of us and make politics work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms O\u2019Neill welcomed an announcement by DUP Education Minister Michelle O\u2019Neill of grants for families of children entitled to free school meals over the summer months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However she said the move is \u201cno substitute for having a fully functioning Assembly and Executive\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe should not spend any energy trying to find workarounds or trying to push the boundaries of ministerial responsibility. What we should have is fully functioning ministers in post around an Executive table,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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