Stormont election likely to be called if executive not formed by October 28

Chris Heaton-Harris said he cannot ‘see the space’ for emergency legislation to potentially avert a fresh poll.

Laptop screen showing Chris Heaton-Harris MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland speaking during a Northern Ireland Affairs Committee hearing (Liam McBurney/PA)

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has restated his intention to call a Stormont Assembly if the executive is not reformed by October 28.

Devolved government in the region has been in flux across the year, and current legislation requires Mr Heaton-Harris to call a fresh election if an executive is not formed by October 28.

The Electoral Office wrote to political parties on Tuesday indicating that if an election is called it will take place on December 15.

Mr Heaton-Harris said he “can’t see the space” for any emergency legislation to potentially avert the move.

Appearing at the Northern Ireland Affairs committee on Tuesday, Mr Heaton-Harris said he had discussed the ongoing paralysis at Stormont with his Cabinet colleagues earlier that day.

“If we do not get a reformed executive by one minute past midnight on the 28th of October, I will be calling an election, that’s what the law requires me to do, and that is what I will be doing,” he told MPs.

“I know that lots of people really do not see or do not want that to happen but it is a legislative requirement.”

He said he “can’t see the space” for any emergency legislation.

He added: “The best solution would be having an executive up and running, without a shadow of a doubt.

“If we come back and people choose not to go into positions … actually I think almost immediately the ministers fall away and it gives me a few tough decisions to make which I’d much rather not be taking but I’m fully cognisant of some of the issues that I’ve been reading about in the newspapers, being told about by real folk in real streets on real doorsteps that they’re facing.

“Lots of things would be a lot easier if the executive were running and so my focus is trying to charm, beguile, coax everybody into that place, that they come back into the executive, and I’d like to think I will be successful, but if I’m not then I’m afraid it is an election.”

The DUP is blocking the functioning of the powersharing institutions in Belfast as part of its protest against the protocol which has created barriers on the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The UK Government has vowed to secure changes to the protocol, either through a negotiated compromise with the EU or domestic legislation to empower ministers to scrap the arrangements without the approval of Brussels.

DUP MP Ian Paisley put “difficulty” to Mr Heaton-Harris around Sinn Fein, referring to a former party councillor Jonathan Dowdall being convicted in the Republic of Ireland of facilitating a murder in Dublin and several incidents of pro-IRA chanting.

He also referred to Sinn Fein’s Stormont leader Michelle O’Neill’s comments that there was “no alternative” to IRA violence during the Troubles.

“Are you able to push back on the Irish government, on the Sinn Fein leader and others to indicate to them just how difficult a situation these actual examples of people’s conduct is going to make the negotiations to fix the Northern Ireland peace,” Mr Paisley asked.

Mr Heaton-Harris said he has not had the opportunity “to raise those personally but I am the sort of person who absolutely would”.

“But I do put it again into that historical context, I completely understand how significant and important these things are, but 25 years ago when the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement was being formed, there were at least equal if not much worse things going on in the background, yet people still choose to come together for peace and prosperity for Northern Ireland,” he said.

Mr Paisley also pressed Mr Heaton-Harris on a likely date if an Assembly election is called at the end of the month, asking whether it would be December 8 or December 15.

Mr Heaton-Harris said he would “like to think it would be a relatively short campaign”, and indicated Mr Paisley was “in the right zone”, confirming it would be “before Christmas”.

In a letter to the parties, the Electoral Office said the election, if called, will take place on December 15.

The letter, seen by the PA news agency, said the Eikon Centre in Co Antrim, the Titanic Exhibition Centre in Belfast and the Foyle Arena will be used as a counting centres on December 16.

The letter, signed by Chief Electoral Office for Northern Ireland Virginia McVea, also said they have had to contact 9,000 people to ask them to work at the election, and will need 5,500 staff in posts.

Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister said the UK Government’s intention to call an election if the executive is not formed by October 28 puts all sides “under pressure”.

Simon Coveney described Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris’s stance on the matter as “consistent”, adding that it “puts us all under pressure because there’s only a little over a week to go.

He told the PA news agency: “What we need to do is find a way of persuading all parties to form that Executive.

“There’s only one party at the moment that doesn’t want to do it. And they said they won’t do it unless and until they see changes in the context of the Northern Ireland Protocol.”

Mr Coveney added that Ireland is “up for making changes” in terms of how the protocol is implemented “so that its impact on Northern Ireland is very different to the perceptions that are there at the moment”.

“I think the EU is up for making those changes and Vice-President Sefcovic has already given a very clear indication as to the direction of travel,” he said.

“But we need a partner in that. And that partner is the British Government.”

Mr Coveney said there is a “willingness” to settle the protocol issues hindering Stormont being reformed but “we certainly cannot do everything in a week”.

“It’s also important to say that in recent weeks the conversations with my counterparts in the British Government, Chris Heaton Harris, Steve Baker, James Cleverly have been very positive,” Mr Coveney said.

“There is a willingness to move forward and try and settle these issues but whether we can do it in a week remains to be seen.

“We certainly cannot do everything in a week. But let’s wait and see.”

Mr Coveney and Mr Heaton-Harris are due to meet on Wednesday to discuss the protocol issues.