DUP will not collapse powersharing under my leadership, vows Robinson

Gavin Robinson has made clear the DUP will not collapse Stormont powersharing under his leadership.

The DUP leader said stability was key to his overriding objective of making Northern Ireland work.

The DUP used its veto power to collapse Stormont in 2022 in protest at post-Brexit trading arrangements.

It lifted its boycott on devolution in February on the back of a UK Government command paper that pledged to reduce red tape and remove barriers on trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Sinn Fein used its veto to bring down devolution in 2017 – triggering a governance vacuum that lasted three years.

Mr Robinson took charge of the DUP in March in the wake of Sir Jeffrey Donaldson’s shock departure after he was charged with a series of historical sex offences – charges he denies.

The party subsequently suffered a bruising general election in July, losing three of its eight seats.

East Belfast MP Mr Robinson delivered his first speech to a DUP conference as party leader on Saturday. He used his address in Belfast to pledge a new direction for the party, with a promise to rebuild and reconnect with voters across Northern Ireland.

On Monday, he was asked to commit to the DUP not collapsing Stormont under his leadership.

“I think if you read my speech (on Saturday) or listen to what I said, it’s the importance that I place on our ability to deliver for people in Northern Ireland, and you can only do that when you have a stable government, when we are making government work for people in Northern Ireland, when we are making Northern Ireland work within the United Kingdom,” he told BBC Radio Ulster.

Asked if he was answering yes to the question about never collapsing powersharing, he replied: “It is yes. It is yes because it is vitally important for us, but it’s vitally important for everyone in Northern Ireland that stability brings product, brings progress and shows purposefully what good government can do for you.

“That’s not to say that there won’t be challenges, of course there will.

“You’ll have stories every day about the challenges of wanting to do more much more quickly than we can ever hope to achieve, but not lose the sense of purpose. And, for us, there’s a constitutional side to that sense of purpose and within that making Northern Ireland work is key.”

Mr Robinson then branded as “nonsense” any suggestion his party could instead boycott the North South Ministerial Council if further issues arise with the co-called Irish Sea border.

“There was nothing suggested on Saturday or anything since I became leader that this was even a question, so I’m not going to fuel it anymore,” he said.

“I think it’s nonsense, and I think people need to grasp what they hear and engage with what they see, rather than look round the corner for dark shadows.”

When he became DUP leader, Mr Robinson moved to address concerns held by some unionists and loyalists that his party oversold the Government’s Safeguarding the Union command paper by overstating the degree to which it had removed Brexit barriers on trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Mr Robinson has said the DUP should have responded to the command paper with more “cautious realism”.

On Monday, he said the job was not done when it came to addressing issues on sovereignty and trade.

He noted that the UK government was hopeful of securing an overarching agreement with the EU to bring about a closer trading relationship.

“It’s not going to come quickly,” he added.

“There’s no indication that the European Union will settle this discussion within the next two years. And we will continue to champion Northern Ireland and to remove the harmful position that we have been placed in by successive governments who treated Northern Ireland as an afterthought. That’s not where we are, that’s not where we want to be, and we will never shy away from championing the best for Northern Ireland.”

During ministerial question time at the Stormont Assembly on Monday, First Minister Michelle O’Neill was asked to give a similar commitment as Mr Robinson, that she would not collapse the powersharing institutions.

The Sinn Fein vice president told MLAs: “I have always been clear that I am here because I want to govern.

“I’m here in the Executive, leading the Executive, developing a programme for government, bringing forward strategies, trying to make people’s lives better.

“I am fully committed to making the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement work, including the Executive and the Assembly.”