Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has announced that the deadline for Northern Ireland to restore its executive prior to a new assembly election being called has been extended by six weeks to December 8, 2022.
The move comes after Heaton-Harris (pictured) had ruled out the prospect of holding a new election before Christmas, citing concerns over the likely cost and impact.
The change means that the latest date upon which a new assembly election can be held is now April 13, 2023.
The NI secretary also outlined plans to cut the pay of assembly members [MLAs] while the executive cannot function properly. This could see wages to be docked by up to a third according to BBC News NI.
Announcing the extension, Heaton-Harris said that it was “fair to say…that the vast majority of those I have spoken to think that an election at this time would be unwelcome.”
In order “to protect Northern Ireland's public finances and the delivery of public services”, Heaton-Harris put forward legislation in Westminster to pass a budget for Northern Ireland that would address a “black hole” of £660 million.
More control is also being handed to senior civil servants to run Stormont departments while local ministers are unable to do so, allowing for a “small number of vital public appointments” to be made, including to institutions such as the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
Heaton-Harris added that he would be looking to “reduce MLAs’ salaries appropriately”, suggesting that local people would be frustrated to see MLAs receive their full salaries of £51,500 per annum while they were unable to take their seats and work.
The Northern Ireland executive has been left dormant since May's assembly elections. After Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein emerged from the polls with the most seats, the Democratic Unionist Party [DUP] refused to enter a power-sharing government as part of an ongoing protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol, a key part of the UK’s Brexit deal with the EU.
Sinn Fein's standing as the largest party means that it is entitled to nominate the first minister, who would be the party's deputy leader Michelle O'Neill.
O'Neill has accused the DUP of using the Protocol as a cover and instead refusing to accept the outcome of the election, in particular the fact that a nationalist would be serving as first minister of Northern Ireland.
Image by Chris McAndrew on Wikimedia Commons
