NI executive gets up at night without agreement on new coronavirus restrictions

Updated 3 hours ago

The NORTH IRELAND Executive has been postponed overnight without reaching an agreement on the new coronavirus restrictions.

NI’s four-week blackout lockout ends tomorrow at midnight, at which point the regulations that have forced the closure of much of the hotel industry will disappear.

Divisions at the head of the Stormont executive have been exposed as ministers struggle to agree on restrictions.

The DUP has already vetoed a proposal by Health Minister Robin Swann to extend the current hiatus by two weeks, despite the other four executive parties backing the measure.

During a third executive meeting in three days on Wednesday, Swann is understood to have suggested a week-long extension of the measures, which have forced the shutdown of much of the hotel sector.

It is understood that the DUP’s initial reaction to the proposal was not positive.

The ministers were due to resume talks today on proposals to partially reopen the hospitality sector after late-night meetings on Monday and yesterday they broke up without an agreement.

The administration faces mounting criticism for not informing companies if they will be able to reopen on Friday.

During yesterday’s executive meeting, Alliance Party Justice Minister Naomi Long was particularly critical of the deployment of cross-community voting, a mechanism designed to protect minority rights in a post-conflict society, to torpedo health regulations.

After Swann’s document was rejected, ministers moved on to debate alternative proposals put forward by DUP Finance Minister Diane Dodds.

Most of Stormont’s ministers also voted against proposals by Economy Minister Diane Dodds, which would have led to a partial reopening of the hotel sector in Northern Ireland.

Other plans

Justice Minister Naomi Long is understood to be developing a document that would merge Robin Swann’s one-week extension proposal with Diane Dodds’ plans to partially reopen the hotel sector.

Under the proposal, the interruption of the circuit would continue for another week before the introduction of measures that would allow cafes and coffee shops to reopen and to resume close contact services.

Ministers will resume discussions in the morning on the proposals tabled by Naomi Long.

PA understands that a document presented by Robin Swann to the executive this afternoon warned ministers that failure to extend the circuit break for two weeks would “significantly increase” the probability of a pre-Christmas intervention in Northern Ireland.

The document makes clear that even a two-week extension may not be enough to avoid the need to impose new measures before the holiday period.

The document, which proposed a one-week extension to give ministers more time to develop an agreed approach, warns that hospitals in Northern Ireland are currently operating “at, near or above maximum capacity.”

He stressed that if hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid-19 cases, the ability to provide other services will be “negatively affected,” leading to an increase in deaths from other causes.

In the document, Swann also expressed doubts about whether the alternative proposals put forward by Economy Minister Diane Dodds could be translated into regulations in time for the expiration of the current circuit breaker on Thursday.