No NI deal but PM pledges more cash

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 12 Desember 2014 | 19.12

12 December 2014 Last updated at 11:59
Prime Minister David Cameron (R) and Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny (L)

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David Cameron and Enda Kenny said they hoped the Executive could reach an agreement

David Cameron has left talks at Stormont in Northern Ireland saying a deal was not possible but he had offered "financial firepower" for one.

The prime minister said he was providing what would amount to "almost £1bn of spending power for the coming years" if agreement could be reached.

But Sinn Féin said "no credible financial package" was on the table.

This was not "new money" said deputy first minister Martin McGuinness.

'Underwhelmed'

"We were all distinctly underwhelmed by his generosity," he said.

Martin McGuiness

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Martin McGuinness said: "We hope we can arrive at a place that we all can live with in relation to the past"

"Unfortunately, whatever you have been told by David Cameron, there was no credible financial package on offer to executive ministers to allow us to combat the austerity agenda that this government has been inflicting on us," he told journalists outside the talks at Stormont House.

"Our job was to try and arrive at a financial package that would allow us to protect public service jobs and hospitals and keep teachers in schools - to provide the essential services our people deserve.

Peter Robinson

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Peter Robinson said: "Yes the prime minister has more work to do, he needs to come up with a better package"

"Thus far we haven't got that. But we don't give up."

First Minister Peter Robinson said there was "work that needs to be completed" and a "responsibility to get the job done".

The DUP leader said he did not believe the parties had "sufficiently challenged the prime minister on what his bottom line is on financial issues", as they had not reached agreement on implementing welfare reform measures in Northern Ireland.

"I think the prime minister would have had more give in him if he had seen that the issue was going to be resolved," he said.

Stormont sources say the bulk of the extra £1bn of spending power referred to by Mr Cameron consisted of reassigning the Northern Ireland Executive's current borrowing power, known as the Reform and Reinvestment Initiative.

That facility currently allows Stormont to borrow £200m per year for new capital build projects.

It is understood the prime minister proposed that a full £200m could be diverted in the first year towards funding a voluntary exit or civil service redundancy scheme, and £100m for five successive years, adding up to around £700m in total. This is why Stormont politicians are describing the cash as their own money.

The prime minister has also offered an extra £10m per year for four years to fund a proposed new Historical Investigations Unit.

Analysis: Mark Devenport, BBC NI political editor

The Stormont politicians say they will continue their discussions, and Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers and Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan indicate they are ready to assist the process in the coming days.

However, given the gulf between the financial assistance that the Stormont politicians are demanding and the borrowing facility being offered by the UK government, it is hard to see the conditions for a deal emerging soon.

If the deadlock persists over crunch questions like welfare reform, the danger will be that the Northern Ireland Executive cannot balance its budget.

In that scenario, we could see a threat to the stability of the assembly or a move towards an early assembly election, perhaps in tandem with the Westminster election due in May 2015.

What is the Reinvestment and Reform Initiative?

SDLP MP Mark Durkan said: "We know the prime minister said he has offered additional new money.

"There's clearly big differences between our education system and the English education system when the prime minister's idea of addition is essentially no new money."

He said much of the progress made in last year's cross-party talks, chaired by former US diplomat Richard Haass, was "being diluted".

Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt said he still believed a deal was possible over the Christmas period, if the political will was there.

"It needs to be fixed urgently, as it looks like corporation tax is hanging by a thread," he said.

"We need some mature politics in the next few days.

"It is fixable if people engage in mature politics and declare their bottom lines."

'Need for realism'

Alliance Party leader David Ford said there was "a need for realism and to seriously engage with the issues in the government's paper".

He said there had been very little progress made on some matters since last year's cross-party talks, "and on some matters we are in a worse position".

The prime minister said any deal had to properly address the issues.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he believed the document put in front of the political parties on Thursday night addressed all of the issues.

He said the Irish and British governments would continue to be available to the parties, but that he believed the Northern Ireland politicians would be able to "conclude the outstanding issues".

Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Ivan Lewis said: "David Cameron's flying visit and failure to break the political stalemate once again raises questions about the consequences of the UK government's lack of engagement in Northern Ireland over the past four years.

"There remains a window of opportunity before Christmas for all parties and the two governments to find a way forward on the budget and legacy issues such as the past and parades. This will require true political leadership and a willingness to compromise on all sides."

As Mr Cameron and Mr Kenny prepared to leave Stormont House, Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams tweeted: "Two governments exiting after most amateurish, ham-fisted episode I have ever been involved in."

Negotiations continued past midnight on Thursday and the prime ministers presented an amended document.

The prime minister and taoiseach were back at the table as talks reopened at 08:00 GMT on Friday. But shortly after 09:00 GMT, they left.

The talks focus on disputes over flags, parades, the past and welfare reform.

Previous discussions on Thursday broke up at 01:30 GMT, all sides said there had been real engagement and that progress had been made.


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