A number of senior DUP figures including Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Sammy Wilson, Gregory Campbell and Lord Dodds have signed an email expressing concern about developments around the latest Irish language agreement which will allow the party to re-nominate a first minister.
According to the BBC, the leaked email followed the agreement reached by the Secretary of State and the two parties, with several of the partys Westminster contingent writing that they are concerned about this development.
Those who signed the email include a number of supporters of Mr Poots including Carla Lockhart and Paul Girvan.
The email calls for Edwin Poots to meet with them before any further steps are taken in this process, including the nomination of a First Minister.
The development comes after the Assembly confirmed the chamber is to sit at 12pm to carry out the nomination of the First and deputy First Minister positions.
The DUP members email states: “We are very concerned about this development and therefore, are urgently requesting that you meet with us as DUP Members of Parliament and Peers to explain the basis of your agreement with the Secretary of State and Sinn Fein before any further steps are taken in this process, including the nomination of a First Minister.
“You have often spoken of the need for accountability and transparency within our party and it is now essential that you consult with us as representatives of the people of Northern Ireland before you proceed further.
The stalemate between the DUP and Sinn Fein over Irish language legislation was resolved in the early hours of Thursday after the parties met Secretary of State Brandon Lewis at Stormont.
Edwin Poots said he will not have a gun held to his head” over the timing of legislating on the Irish language, as the party confirms in a letter that Paul Givan is to be nominated as Northern Ireland First Minister later today.
He said Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald cant go out and advertise something she doesnt have.
Responding, she said she did not agree with the use of the metaphor and said a resolution for Irish legislation was in place for the autumn and the matter should have been resolved many moons ago.
In a letter to his party colleagues, Edwin Poots confirmed Paul Givan will be nominated as the First Minister, while Sinn Fein confirmed Michelle ONeill is to be nominated for the deputy First Minister.
While the parties appear set to enter back into the Executive, Mr Poots would not confirm if the party would agree to legislate for the cultural provisions around language by Autumn, potentially forcing the UK Government to act over the heads of Stormont.
Mr Poots told BBCs Good Morning Ulster he didnt welcome the intervention by the Secretary of State and said there is no necessity for anyone to step in.
The party leader also said that he wanted to see all parts of the New Decade, New Approach (NDNA) agreement which restored power sharing in January 2020 implemented and accused Sinn Fein of being prepared to pull down Stormont over one single issue.
I indicated that the agreement that was made in NDNA was something we were committed to and prepared to work through, he said.
What I wasnt prepared to do was have a gun held to my head in terms of the timings of that and SFs demand that I do that before the June 24.
The nomination of the First and deputy First Minister should never have been in question.
This [Irish language] is part of the agreement we made in January 2020 and we are not shirking away from that agreement. There is no necessity for anybody to step in. This agreement was a total package.
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Mary Lou McDonald. Credit: Niall Carson
Mary Lou McDonald. Credit: Niall Carson
We are not going to be pushed in terms of making a decision that goes ahead of other commitments in NDNA. There was more than one issue in NDNA.
There are a series of things within NDNA that are not completed yet. We are not cherry picking one thing out and demanding this has to happen or else.
At no point have I threatened to pull down the institutions…it is Sinn Fein that have threatened to pull down the institutions. We are not going to be dictated to by Sinn Fein.
There is a lot in this cultural package for unionism. That is why we are not shirking away from it. Mary-Lou McDonald can go out and advertise she has got something which she doesnt actually have.
The Sinn Fein President Mary-Lou McDonald accused the DUP of brazenly and persistently blocking legislation around Irish language and said Edwin Poots has told them he will not legislate for Irish language rights.
Ms McDonald also rejected the accusation Sinn Fein had held a gun to the Stormont institutions, adding she didnt like that metaphor.
It completely misrepresents the situation. Far from pulling anything down it was I and my colleagues in Sinn Fein who went to the Secretary of State on Monday and said we now have a problem here she told the BBC.
The DUP have told us that they will not legislate for Irish language rights.
They are not for rights. Political unionism, or that strand of it, cannot do rights. Edwin Poots and his party may seek and succeed in delaying rights…but they will not stop change.
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Justice Minister Naomi Long
Photopress Belfast
Justice Minister Naomi Long
Brandon Lewis confirmed the British government will legislate for the language in October if Stormont refuses to do so before then.
The TUV leader Jim Allister accused Edwin Poots of being a rollover king and said the agreement reached with Mr Lewis and the two parties was the first big humiliation and failure of Edwin Poots leadership.
“Not only did Sinn Fein treat him as a small boy – dictating when and how his First Minister would be able to take office – but, now, red-faced, he has somersaulted into line, Mr Allister added.
This is the portent of things to come as once more Sinn Fein rule prevails, with the DUP the onlooking bridesmaid.
It’s good the British govt have again committed to language legislation. We should never have been in this situation. We’ll be in Westminster to hold them to account on that. Can we now get on with dealing with all the NDNA commitments? Waiting lists, childcare, Magee, etc.
Colum Eastwood (@columeastwood) June 17, 2021
This further victory for ransom politics raises the basic question of what is now the point of Stormont if a fundamental power is surrendered.”
The Alliance Party leader Naomi Long said that while the issue around Irish language was resolved, there was an issue of trust that remains.
“When you give your word as a politician you have got to keep your word and that just hasnt happened on this occasion. It seems like a very immature kind of politics that we have to rely on him [Brandon Lewis] to do that, she told BBCs Good Morning Ulster.
If we cannot do the difficult things then we are not providing people with the mature leadership they need.”
The Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie described it as shameful that people on health waiting lists had been held to ransom over the issue.
“My concern is now that if we dont bring [Irish language legislation] forward in the assembly, if we kick this can down the road until the autumn so that Brandon Lewis brings it in in Westminster, we as a party will not have the opportunity to scrutinise or engage to challenge aspects of it, he told the Nolan Show.
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A number of senior DUP figures including Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, Sammy Wilson, Gregory Campbell and Lord Dodds have signed an email expressing concern about developments around the latest Irish language agreement which will allow the party to re-nominate a fir…
