Alliance call for a Dublin role in Stormont reform breaches principles behind Belfast Agreement - UUP
A call by the Alliance Party to give the Irish government a consultative role in reforming the Stormont institutions is wrong – and “breaches” the principles of the Belfast Agreement, the UUP deputy leader has said.
Robbie Butler’s comments come after an Alliance motion calling for the Secretary of State to convene “a process of institutional reform in consultation with the Irish Government and local parties”.
However, an SDLP amendment removed the reference to a consultative role for both Dublin and the UK government. Unionists opposed the motion, but it was passed by 41 to 31 on Tuesday.
It came in response to the findings of the UK Covid 19 inquiry, which criticised Stormont’s decision making during the pandemic.
Robbie Butler MLA said the report was “a damning indictment of political leadership and government by DUP and Sinn Féin”.
“Sinn Féin are happy to ignore their own catastrophic failings during Covid, including their spectacular refusal to obey the laws that had been passed collectively by the Assembly, yet they now lean heavily into demands for ‘reform’ while accepting no responsibility whatsoever for those failings, the Lagan Valley MLA said.
Mr Butler said the motion brought forward by Alliance was “deeply flawed” – and the UUP remains “firmly committed to the principles of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement”. He said Strand One of the deal is “crystal clear” that decisions on the governance of NI rest with locally elected representatives and the UK Government, not the Irish Government.
“To suggest otherwise is not only wrong; it breaches the very principles that underpin our devolved institutions.
“We will not set aside fundamental aspects of the Good Friday Agreement to suit anybody’s short-term political whims. The Covid years demonstrated the worst of government, marred by political opportunism and dysfunction. Rewriting the Agreement or inviting external interference is reckless and will only deepen division. The right way forward is constructive engagement with the Secretary of State and the UK Government to ensure that the mistakes of the past are never repeated”, he said.