Key questions about Stormont’s latest powersharing crisis

Here are the answers to some of the key questions about a move that has once again thrown powersharing at Stormont into crisis.

– Was this a surprise?

No. DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has been threatening to pull Mr Givan from the Executive for months in protest at the economic barriers on Irish Sea trade created by the Northern Ireland Protocol. These repeated warnings, without subsequent action, had led some critics to portray Sir Jeffrey as the boy who cried wolf. On Thursday, the DUP leader finally followed through and withdrew his First Minister from the devolved institutions.

– Why has Michelle O’Neill lost her job too?

The powersharing structures created during the peace process mean a functioning Executive can only operate if the largest unionist party and largest nationalist party share the joint office of the First Minister and the deputy First Minister (The Executive Office).

One cannot remain in position without the other. Mr Givan’s resignation forcibly removes Ms O’Neill from post.

– So, does this trigger a snap Assembly election?

If first and deputy first ministers are not renominated within a week, the UK Government assumes a legal responsibility to call an Assembly election within a “reasonable” time frame. Legislation that has almost completed its passage through Westminster would significantly extend this “cooling off” period to up to nine months. However, most of this is largely academic in the current situation, as Northern Ireland already has a scheduled Assembly election in May. At most, Mr Givan’s resignation could see the date for that poll brought forward by several weeks.

– Is this all about the Northern Ireland Protocol?

From the DUP perspective, very much so. The party contends that such drastic action is required to demonstrate the strength of opposition it claims exists within the broader unionist/loyalist community about the so-called Irish Sea border. The resignation of the First Minister comes a day after DUP Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots ordered a unilateral halt to the agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports required under the protocol. This week’s events mark a co-ordinated escalation of the DUP’s campaign against the post-Brexit trade arrangements.

For the DUP’s rivals however, this is all about the election. The DUP has been on the end of some recent bruising opinion poll results and, barring a significant turnaround in fortunes, Sinn Fein is on course to replace it as the largest party in Northern Ireland. The republican party claims the actions of the DUP are part of a cynical strategy designed to galvanise its electoral base and win back voters disillusioned by its handling of the Brexit process.

– Do the other Executive ministers stay in post?

Yes. While Mr Givan and Ms O’Neill have vacated their roles, the other ministers in the administration can continue with their day-to-day duties, albeit they are hamstrung from making major policy moves.

– So, what practical effect does it have?

Under Stormont rules, significant or controversial decisions, or ones that cut across the briefs of several departments, need the approval of the full Executive. Without a first and deputy first minister, the Executive cannot meet and such decisions cannot be taken. Policies that have not yet been introduced, but which have gained the necessary Executive approval, could proceed. Various Bills that have commenced their legislative journey in the Assembly could be able to become law – though that largely depends on time and whether the mandate is cut short by the calling of an early election.

– Then what is in jeopardy?

The most significant item of unfinished business for the current Executive is the draft three-year budget. Sinn Fein Finance Minister Conor Murphy’s spending plan envisages a significant reconfiguration of Executive spending priorities to boost investment in the region’s under-pressure health service. A failure to agree a final Executive budget would derail those plans to prioritise health spending.

Mr Givan and Ms O’Neill had also been due to deliver an official apology to victims and survivors of historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland on March 11. That could not proceed without them being in post.

There had been concerns that the appointment of a new victims’ commissioner for Northern Ireland was also potentially at risk. However, Mr Givan and Ms O’Neill pushed to select a preferred candidate prior to them formally leaving office at midnight.

– What about Covid-19 restrictions?

A small number of public health curbs remain in place, such as the wearing of face masks in certain settings and obligations on businesses to collect contact tracing information and conduct risk assessments.

The fate of these measures in the absence of an Executive is unclear. While the measures were introduced as a consequence of Executive-wide decisions, DUP sources insist UUP Health Minister Robin Swann can use emergency powers granted during the pandemic to lift them unilaterally. A source close to Mr Swann questioned that contention on Thursday and said the position requires legal scrutiny.

– Have we not been here before?

Yes. Devolution only returned to Stormont in January 2020 after a three-year powersharing impasse triggered by the resignation of the late Sinn Fein deputy first minister Martin McGuinness. Mr McGuinness’s move in 2017 forced the then DUP first minister Arlene Foster from post. The other ministers remained in post until a subsequent snap election. The dispute between the DUP and Sinn Fein, which erupted amid a row over a botched green energy scheme, widened to take in longstanding wrangles over issues such as the Irish language and the legacy of the Troubles. It lasted for three years, with the institutions finally returning as a result of the New Decade, New Approach agreement.