- By Iain McDowell
- BBC NewsNI
March 23, 2023 at 1:11 p.m. GMT
Updated 46 minutes ago
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Chris Heaton-Harris says there will be no renegotiation of Northern Ireland’s new Brexit deal
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) “is yet to come to terms with the importance” of voting in support of the new Brexit deal, Northern Ireland Minister Chris Heaton-Harris has said.
His comment comes a day after MPs voted 515-29 in support of the Windsor Framework deal agreed by Rishi Sunak.
The DUP voted against, saying the UK government must make changes to it.
On Thursday, Mr Heaton-Harris said the deal was “done” and would soon become international law.
“There is no renegotiation of this deal,” he said.
“We will now do our best to make this deal work – that’s both us and the European Union.”
The joint UK and EU body overseeing Brexit will meet on Friday to ratify the legal changes brought about by the Windsor framework.
But DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was “not a quitter” and would not abandon his campaign for an improved deal.
He said Wednesday’s parliamentary vote did not reflect the feelings of Northern Ireland trade unionists.
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The Windsor Framework has “an element of band-aid,” says Sir Jeffrey Donaldson
The DUP has blocked the work of the power-sharing government in Stormont for more than a year to protest trade rules laid out for Northern Ireland in Boris Johnson’s original Brexit deal.
The Windsor Framework aimed to change these rules and reduce controls on goods entering Northern Ireland from the UK.
But the DUP has said the new deal between the UK PM and the EU is not enough to agree to reinstate their ministers at Stormont.
After meeting Mr Heaton-Harris at Hillsborough Castle, Sir Jeffrey said he would work with the Government to change the deal.
“I’m not a quitter – I’ve never given up on achieving what we need to achieve,” he said.
“There’s an element of band-aid in the Windsor Framework and it’s not going to work.
“It will not deliver the long-term stability and prosperity that Northern Ireland needs.”
Mr Heaton-Harris met the five main Stormont parties in Hillsborough to discuss the new Brexit deal and Northern Ireland’s public finances, which he said were “definitely not in good shape”.
He said he must finalize Northern Ireland’s budget for the coming year within the next few weeks if the Executive is not ready soon.
“There will be some difficult decisions,” he said.
How did the other parties react?
Sinn Féin Vice President Michelle O’Neill said the DUP must “stop its boycott” of Stormont so that executive ministers could take control of the budget.
Ministers had to be in office to lobby the Treasury for additional funding for Northern Ireland, added Ms O’Neill.
“This budget will do catastrophic damage to public services,” she said.
“So the DUP needs to get around the table with the rest of us and make the policy work.”
Alliance Party MP Stephen Farry said Northern Ireland was “currently bleeding”, with mounting problems and public services in a real crisis.
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Michelle O’Neill – pictured with Sinn Féin Chairwoman Mary Lou McDonald – says the DUP must stop “their boycott” of Stormont
He said his party had asked the UK government to consider providing a financial package and it seemed “the door is open for that”.
“To do this, the parties in Northern Ireland must work together and make a convincing case to the Treasury,” he said.
“That adds momentum for the DUP to join the rest of us in making sure we have proper governance here.”
Robbie Butler, Ulster Unionist Assembly Member, said the scale of the budget cuts “on this cliff at the moment is actually quite alarming”.
He urged the DUP to accept the “difficulties” with the Windsor framework and “put the people of Northern Ireland first”.
Social Democrat and Labor Party leader Colum Eastwood said the DUP must accept that it cannot get everything it wants out of the new Brexit deal.
“We have a huge chance with that [deal] to exchange for both [UK and EU] Markets unencumbered,” said the Foyle MP.
“The people of Britain would give their right arm to have this opportunity.”