Sinn Fein’s recall of Stormont will not change anything, says DUP

The assembly will meet in a new bid to nominate a speaker after more than 30 MLAs signed an SF recall petition.

DUP East Antrim MLA Gordon Lyons said.

“Sinn Fein know this recall will not change anything. The problem is the protocol,” he said.

“We don’t want to be in this position but we have made more progress in two weeks than we made in the previous two years.

“It’s unfortunate that it has taken this step to bring the matter to a head.”

The Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey said Monday’s sitting of the assembly is not a political “stunt”,

The DUP refusal to elect a speaker and facilitate the formation of an executive remains unchanged, as the row between the UK and the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol continues.

Sinn Fein’s Ms Hargey defended the return to Stormont.

“It is not timewasting. We were elected to sit in Stormont, to make legislation and to protect people within our communities,” Ms Hargey said.

“Our role as elected leaders is to work on behalf of those who elected us, to work on behalf of communities. We have been hearing the struggle, people are crying out for help.”

Following a motion from Sinn Fein, outgoing Speaker Alex Maskey said in a letter to MLAs that the purpose of Monday’s recall was to elect a speaker, and a first minister and deputy first minister.

“We are not willing to hold the institutions to ransom,” Ms Hargey told the BBC Sunday Politics programme.

Concerns were raised last week about what the lack of an executive means for the £400 discount on energy bills announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak.

Ms Hargey said SF was looking at “workarounds”.