Northern Ireland

'No Sinn Féin shopping list' to facilitate appointment of next first minister

Sinn Féin Vice President Michelle O'Neill (centre) with party colleagues Carál Ní Chuilín (left) and Chris Hazzard (right). Picture by Liam McBurney, Press Association
Sinn Féin Vice President Michelle O'Neill (centre) with party colleagues Carál Ní Chuilín (left) and Chris Hazzard (right). Picture by Liam McBurney, Press Association Sinn Féin Vice President Michelle O'Neill (centre) with party colleagues Carál Ní Chuilín (left) and Chris Hazzard (right). Picture by Liam McBurney, Press Association

SINN Féin has said it has no "shopping list" for fresh concessions from the DUP to facilitate the appointment of a new first minister.

South Down MP Chris Hazzard said his party only wants the DUP to stick to agreements it has already made, including over an Irish language act.

His comments came as SDLP leader Colum Eastwood accused the DUP of trying to destabilise devolution.

The Foyle MP's remarks come ahead of the DUP selecting a new leader this week and following reports that Paul Givan has been instructed by DUP officers to resign as first minister.

DUP party officers have set a date of June 26 to elect a new leader.

It has been reported that Mr Givan has been told he will be expected to step down as part of the transition.

Appointing a new first minister would also require Sinn Féin to renominate Michelle O'Neill as deputy first minister.

Anger at a British Government pledge to grant Sinn Féin a key concession on Irish language laws led to Edwin Poots's resignation as DUP leader after just three weeks, but Mr Hazzard says his party will have no further demands.

He said: "We will have no demands, other than that people are faithful to commitments and agreements that have been made.

"So 15 months ago we all restored devolution on the basis that the commitments made in St Andrews 15 years ago, that they will be finally realised in legislation.

"That's where all the parties bar the DUP are at, it's not just Sinn Féin saying this. That's where I believe certainly the vast majority of people in the public are.

"There's no shopping list and there's certainly no Sinn Féin shopping list."

Mr Hazzard denied Sinn Féin were culpable for the latest Stormont crisis, by bypassing the DUP and calling on Westminster to legislate for the Irish language.

He said the DUP were "caught in a cul-de-sac of their own making".

He told Sunday Politics Northern Ireland on BBC One: "I think they have been unwilling and incapable to deliver on people's rights.

"For all the shouting about the protocol and Brexit, we have to remember it was gay conversion therapy that brought Arlene Foster down, and it was delivering on Irish language rights that brought Edwin Poots down. That's a really sorry state of affairs."

Mr Eastwood accused the DUP of being reckless with the power-sharing institutions.

"With the imminent resignation of their First Minister, it is increasingly clear that the DUP are positioning themselves to manufacture another political crisis that will once again threaten our local institutions," he said.

"In a desperate attempt to stabilise their own party, they are recklessly prepared to destabilise devolution."

He added: "They should not be pampered with another long, narrow and self-interested negotiation.

"If the DUP or any other party wants to raise political concerns or issues - they can work collectively through the Executive and the Assembly like the rest of us."

Mr Eastwood said the electorate does not want to see Stormont fall just 15 months after the power-sharing institutions were restored.

"I believe people across Northern Ireland have rarely been more united in their desire for political leaders to focus on their real priorities - coming through the pandemic and tackling the real crisis of hospital waiting lists," he said.