DUP foils latest attempt to recall Stormont as N Ireland workers prepare to strike

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Northern Ireland’s largest unionist party foiled a fresh attempt on Wednesday to recall the Stormont assembly and restore the power-sharing executive on the eve of a historic strike over public sector pay set to paralyse the region.

The pro-UK Democratic Unionist party’s refusal to lift its boycott came as many as 170,000 workers were preparing for a day of action on Thursday to press the UK government to release £600mn in cash earmarked for public sector pay rises, which has been frozen since the collapse of Stormont almost two years ago.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the UK’s Northern Ireland secretary, called the continued Stormont stalemate “disappointing” and said the government would implement a “pragmatic and reasonable approach to support Northern Ireland” in the absence of an executive.

First minister-designate Michelle O’Neill of the nationalist Sinn Féin party, which is now the biggest in Northern Ireland, said she feared the region’s political institutions were now “in free-fall”.

Union leaders said up to 80 per cent of workers in the public sector, which accounts for more than a quarter of the region’s jobs, are expected to back the action, making it the biggest strike in a generation. Teachers and nurses are among staff who plan to walk out.

Heaton-Harris has refused to release the £600mn from a £3.3bn package for the region unveiled before Christmas. He insists all the cash is contingent on Stormont’s return.

The day of action coincides with a legal deadline for the UK government to call fresh elections if the power-sharing in Northern Ireland remains on ice. The UK government is expected to legislate next week to delay elections and to introduce a new decision-making process involving UK officials and local civil servants but stopping short of direct rule from London.

The DUP has blocked repeated attempts to…