Harland and Wolff shipyard crisis: Stormont ministers urged to ‘go direct to PM’
Stormont ministers have been urged to "go directly to the Prime Minister" over the future of Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff.
The historic shipbuilder has announced that its holding company is to go into administration.
The firm said between 50-60 immediate redundancies are expected but that staff employed at its four shipyards are not affected.
Harland and Wolff, which famously built the Titanic, has four shipyards - one in Belfast , two in Scotland (Methil on the Firth of Forth and Arnish on the Isle of Lewis) and one in England (Appledore in north Devon).
It is the second time the business has been placed in administration in five years.
The administration process will be confined to the holding company, Harland & Wolff Group Holdings PLC, and the operational companies which run the yards are expected to continue trading.
The matter was raised in the Assembly by East Belfast DUP MLA David Brooks who described Harland and Wolff as not just a large employer within his constituency but an "iconic industry for the whole of Northern Ireland ".
John O'Dowd, standing in for economy minister Conor Murphy, said his department "are focused on doing everything they can to secure the future of the yard".
UUP MLA Steve Aiken asked for assurance that a contract to build support ships for the Royal Navy will still come to Belfast , and urged that Mr Murphy, through First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly , makes an approach to "go directly to the Prime Minister" around the contract. "Because without that, shipbuilding is finished," he said.
Mr O'Dowd responded: "I don't think we should be as definitive in terms of the finishing of shipbuilding in Belfast as the result of a, b or c, but I certainly will make sure that his comments and call are passed on to Minister Murphy for him to engage as he feels fit with the First and deputy First Minister."
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the "mood music is good" surrounding interest in the operations of the firm, saying he had “heard some more encouraging noises... to say that Government is keeping a close eye on this, that they are engaging with the company”.