SDLP leader predicts deal to restore Stormont by autumn

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood, amid a guarded sense of optimism, has predicted that a deal will be struck between the DUP and Sinn Féin to restore the Northern Executive and Assembly – if not by next week's deadline then by the autumn.

As talks continue on two fronts – at Stormont, and between the DUP and the British Conservatives in London to shore up a Theresa May-led British government – the SDLP leader suggested that the DUP and Sinn Féin were anxious to get a deal to reinstate Stormont.

“It is clear from these negotiations that both the DUP and Sinn Féin are eager to get back into government but just haven’t yet worked out how and what timing will best suit them,” said Mr Eastwood.

“Everyone is wise to their game at this stage – there can either be a deal now or a deal in the autumn,” he added during a break in the continuing talks at Stormont on Wednesday afternoon.

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His comments reflected a cautious but growing sense of optimism at Stormont that a breakthrough is possible by Thursday week’s (June 29th) deadline.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney again joined in the negotiations on Wednesday and is due back at Stormont on Friday.

Mr Eastwood however warned that the terms of the prospective DUP-Tory confidence-and-supply arrangement must be known before an agreement can be reached.

Potential deal

Some more detail of that potential deal emerged on Wednesday with talks sources telling the BBC in London the DUP was seeking a package worth at least £2 billion.

The sources said the DUP, among a range of matters, was seeking £1 billion for health, £1 billion for infrastructure, a reduction in corporation tax to the 12.5 per cent rate applicable in the Republic and the abolition of air passenger duty.

The DUP and Tory negotiating teams up to Wednesday evening had failed to reach agreement that would ensure Theresa May returning as prime minister.

There was some speculation that a deal could be reached by Thursday. Sources on Wednesday evening, however, said the talks were continuing and possibly could run into the weekend or later.

The first critical period for reaching a deal will be next week when votes are due to take place on the Queen's Speech, the programme for government for the year ahead in the UK, that was delivered by Queen Elizabeth on Wednesday.

The Conservatives may need the support of the 10 DUP MPs by that stage to ensure that those votes are carried.

Earlier on Wednesday, the British first secretary of state Damian Green said that, while it was "possible" the two parties would not be able to reach agreement, the talks were "progressing well" and were being conducted in a "constructive spirit".

Similar views

“We are both unionist parties at our heart, we are both very concerned with combatting terrorism, we both have similar views about delivering a good Brexit for this country and obviously we are very concerned with the Irish Border issue,” he told BBC Radio 4.

“All talks of this kind take a long time,” added Mr Green.

SDLP leader Mr Eastwood said the DUP-Tory talks were undermining the Stormont negotiations. “We need a resolution to that uncertainty so that we can get on with the job of getting the deal done here,” he said.

"The chaotic talks between the DUP and the Tories are holding the politics of the North to ransom. If there is an economic package coming from London then it needs to be targeted to those areas and those people in the North who have been left behind," he added. "The DUP needs to understand that it is not their money. It belongs to all the people of Northern Ireland. It must be targeted where objective need exists, not the parochial political desires of one party."