Unionists to be urged by Secretary of State to ‘put Union first’ and restore devolved institutions

During a speech at the Queen’s University Belfast, Chris Heaton-Harris is also set to warn those intent on violence, they will not drag the province back to its troubled past.

Mr Heaton-Harris will be speaking at a major conference to mark the 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement at a time when the Stormont Assembly remains effectively collapsed.

The DUP has said it will not participate in the Assembly until its concerns around the Northern Ireland Protocol are addressed.

In his speech today Mr Heaton-Harris will say those that want Northern Ireland to remain an integral part of the UK should “put the Union first, restore the devolved institutions and get on with the job of delivering for the people of Northern Ireland”.

He is set to outline the damage being done to Northern Ireland in the absence of a sitting executive.

He is also set to sound a warning that the continued stalemate at Stormont poses the “single biggest threat to Northern Ireland’s place in the Union”.

The event at the Queen’s has seen the participation of major political figures including former US president Bill Clinton, former prime minister Tony Blair and former taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

Addressing day two of the conference, Mr Heaton-Harris will praise the “vision, bravery, leadership and imagination” of the signatories and supporters.

He is set to say the agreement is “crucial” to Northern Ireland’s status today as a “thriving centre of creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship”, and is to reiterate that the government “remains wholly committed to protecting and upholding” the agreement.

Speaking weeks after the assessed threat from terrorists in Northern Ireland was raised to severe, Mr Heaton-Harris will warn the “small minority who seek to drag Northern Ireland back to its darkest days”.

He will emphasise that they will “never succeed” as the people of Northern Ireland reject “violence which has no place in the society so many have fought so hard to create”.