Good progress in negotiations to safe Stormont restoration, Heaton-Harris says
Chris Heaton-Harris additionally mentioned there can be no re-negotiation of the the Windsor Framework.
Mr Heaton-Harris was talking at Hillsborough Castle after concluding a spherical of talks with occasion leaders within the newest bid to interrupt the Stormont stalemate.
The Assembly has been in flux for greater than a yr amid DUP protest motion over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The Windsor Framework was agreed by the EU and UK earlier this yr as a approach to cut back crimson tape on commerce between GB and NI.
But the DUP has insisted it won’t return to Stormont till the Government supplies additional legislative assurances round Northern Ireland’s place throughout the UK inner market.
Senior civil servants have been left operating Stormont departments and face having to make substantial cuts following a finances set by Mr Heaton-Harris.
Speaking to journalists outdoors Hillsborough fort on Thursday, Mr Heaton-Harris declined to offer a timeline for the return of Stormont however mentioned progress was being made.
“We continue to engage regularly with the political parties as you would expect, and as part of that process, we are working with the DUP to provide additional clarity on the basis of which they will return to the executive,” he mentioned
“We’ve made good progress in recent weeks. I believe there is a genuine willingness on all sides to come together and establish the conditions for the devolved institutions to work.
“I remain deeply cognisant of the delicate balance of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and completely understand the sensitivities and shared ownership with these issues.
He added: “As I say, good progress has been made, and I am as ever, glass half full,” he mentioned.
Mr Heaton-Harris additionally clarified that there can be no renegotiation of the Windsor Framework.
“And it goes without saying we will not be reopening negotiations on the Windsor Framework with the European Union, and these discussions are not about the money,” he mentioned.
Following her assembly with the Secretary of State Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill mentioned the continued Stormont stalemate is “totally unsustainable”.
Ms O’Neill mentioned the British and Irish governments needed to do extra to carry Stormont again.
She mentioned: “We have just had our meeting with the Secretary of State and we have made it very clear to him that the current position is totally unsustainable, this vacuum isn’t good enough, all it is serving is to punish the public.”
Ms O’Neill added: “Whilst people within the DUP take themselves off on summer holidays, workers and families are left struggling and worrying about how they are going to deal with the cost-of-living issues.
“We have impressed upon the Secretary of State that both himself, the British Government and the Irish Government must do more; this position just isn’t tenable.
“We need to see action, the public rightly expect that everybody will work together.”
“We have heard from the Secretary of State that they intend to be engaged over the summer, but there is a difference between engagement, and engagement which is actually meaningful and leads to a restoration of the executive.”
UUP chief Doug Beattie mentioned he maintained that authorities can be operational earlier than the top of the yr.
“I made an assessment that we would have Stormont up and running by the autumn, I have not changed that assessment that we will have Stormont up and running by the autumn,” he mentioned.
“But I’m also a realist and I realise that the timings are getting tight.
“We have a recess now and there’ll be work no doubt done over the recess, and then we have two weeks I think, in early September, where a decision will have to be made and whether we get Stormont moving or not and that’s down to the DUP.”
Mr Beattie acknowledged that his sustained confidence within the timeline of Stormont’s return was as a result of there may be “no alternative”.
“The reason is because I see no alternative. There is absolutely no alternative to Stormont and the Stormont institutions, with all their frailties,” he mentioned.
“We can’t do anything, we can address absolutely nothing, unless we have a functioning devolved government in some shape or form.”
Mr Heaton-Harris met earlier this week with the DUP, Alliance Party and the SDLP in London.
DUP chief Sir Jeffrey Donaldson mentioned after his assembly on Wednesday the “ball is in the Government’s court” close to motion which might see the restoration of the Stormont powersharing preparations.
Sir Jeffrey mentioned there had to date been a “lack of meaningful action” from Westminster in addressing his considerations over post-Brexit buying and selling preparations.
Mr Heaton-Harris has been urgent the events on their plans for a costed programme for presidency for any incoming govt.