DUP conference: ‘We will return to Stormont if there is action on protocol,’ says Jeffrey Donaldson

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was addressing the DUP conference in Belfast, where he told party delegates that he did not fear another election at the end of this year.

Explaining the reason why the DUP was refusing to participate in power-sharing, he said that the barrier between Great Britain and Northern Ireland is “simply not sustainable and is incompatible with devolution”.

Sir Jeffrey sent a message to the UK government and the EU that the largest unionist party was prepared to end its boycott of the Stormont institutions: “For the benefit of those watching in London and Brussels, let me restate our clear commitment.

“If decisive action is taken on the protocol that restores our place fully within the United Kingdom, this party will take its place once again in a fully functioning executive.”

The DUP leader said that such action on the Irish Sea border might come in the form of the NI Protocol Bill or in a negotiation with the EU but that it was the outcome that mattered, rather than the process.

Referring to the government’s increasingly frequent warning that it will call an election if there is no devolution by October 28, issued again on Friday by the NI Secretary Chris-Heaton Harris after the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in London, Sir Jeffrey said:

“We do not fear the prospect of a fresh election, far from it. If in the absence of his government righting the wrongs visited upon Northern Ireland the secretary of state calls an Assembly election... we are ready and we will take our case to the people as the lead party of unionism.

“We will campaign as never before to secure a further fresh mandate from the people.

“The government needs to tread sensitively and act wisely if they wish to see unionist confidence rebuilt and the conditions created for durable power sharing.”