Deputy First Minister says unionism ‘sees through’ calls for Stormont reform

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly has said unionism “sees through” calls by Stormont parties for powersharing reforms.

DUP MLA Ms Little-Pengelly said there is a “nationalist, republican, Alliance majority” trying to remove “safeguards” through revision proposals.

The joint Executive leader also criticised Stormont ministers, claiming they are “blaming things that actually don’t exist as blocks”, while her party’s ministers “are pushing forward with a very ambitious agenda”.

Ms Little-Pengelly was speaking alongside First Minister Michelle O’Neill, Irish Premier Micheal Martin, Deputy Premier Simon Harris and Irish Foreign Minister Helen McEntee after a meeting of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) in Co Armagh.

The Irish delegation included Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers and Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien.

At their Ard Fheis last month Sinn Fein said they would bring forward proposals to reform the power-sharing institutions at Stormont.

The SDLP and Alliance Party have also proposed changes to the system, including implementing a weighted majority system to determine cross-community support and changing the First and deputy First Minister titles to Joint First Ministers.

Asked why the DUP do not see the need for reform, Ms Little-Pengelly told reporters in Armagh: “I do think it is the case that for all of those years where there was a Unionist majority, it was nationalism and Republicanism that demanded those controls and safeguards,” she said.

“That’s what was implemented, and everybody else was told to get on with that, that is the way it was, in terms of inclusion, in terms of the mechanisms.

The deputy First Minister said some parties’ frustrations were arising from the fact Stormont “is a coalition government, and no party to a coalition government ever gets exactly what they want”.

“It’s up to individual ministers to deliver,” she said.

“I think increasingly we are seeing ministers and some parties hiding behind this sense of reform to almost excuse their lack of delivery within their own departments.

“I think we’ve seen progress, for example, on waiting lists, but there is no issue stuck or blocked at the Executive around Bengoa health sector reform, around health waiting list reductions, the A5, the economy.

“All of these issues are issues that are sitting within departments. I think there are ways to get on and deliver that.

“I only have to look at my own two DUP ministers to see that they are pushing forward with a very ambitious agenda.”

She added: “It’s now over to other ministers to do so and stop blaming things that actually don’t exist as blocks and I think that those are critical questions to ask of those ministers.

“Why are they not actually delivering like the DUP ministers are delivering?”

Ms O’Neill said she wanted the institutions to work but “politics has to deliver for people and their limitations within the arrangement itself”.

“All the tweaking in the world or window dressing won’t make it work better, you need political will, and you need a commitment to deliver for people in a joined-up way,” she said.

She added: “In the longer term, the best reform is actually constitutional change, in my opinion,” she said.

“But all the while, as we work towards that, I believe that we should try to make the thing work better, make the Assembly and Executive work better.

The First Minister added: “We’re up for this, but we need to have a sit down, all the parties, and agree the way forward.

“We said that we’d play our part in that discussion.”

The Taoiseach said his views on Stormont reform are “well known”.

“We think that the parties, various parties, have said to us, some have published their reforms, others are saying they’re going to publish reforms, and obviously the parties will discuss amongst themselves also what’s possible, what’s not possible,” Mr Martin said.

“I think there are areas where things can improve, in terms of efficacy, in terms of fluidity of decision-making. That’s an ongoing issue.”