
Stormont Ministers to try again to agree programme for government
The Northern Ireland Executive will try again later to agree its long-delayed programme for government a day after the decision was postponed.A scheduled meeting of the four-party devolved administration was pulled on Wednesday after Alliance Party minister Andrew Muir said he wanted more time to review the final document.He characterised it as a "storm in a teacup", but the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) described the further delay as a "farce".The draft programme for government was agreed in September 2024 and sent out for public consultation.
'Farce'
The 88-page document, entitled Our Plan: Doing What Matters Most, sets out the executive's key priorities.A final version was expected to be agreed before the first anniversary of the restoration of Stormont's power-sharing government in early February.Muir said he was "confident" the programme for government would be agreed when ministers hold their meeting on Thursday morning.He told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme on Wednesday his "only ask" was that the "finalised document would be received before the meeting so we could consider it".SDLP assembly member Matthew O'Toole, leader of the opposition at Stormont, criticised the further delay."This farce typifies the dysfunction we have seen since the return of the Stormont institutions last year," he said.Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister said it was "the latest episode in the Stormont farce", describing the institutions as an "unworkable system of government".
Taoiseach visit
Later on Thursday, First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly are due to meet the taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin.It will be his first visit to Northern Ireland since becoming taoiseach again in January following elections in November.Martin is also expected to hold meetings with Alliance leader Naomi Long and SDLP leader Claire Hanna, and speak by phone with Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Mike Nesbitt.He will be greeted at Stormont's Parliament Buildings by Northern Ireland Assembly speaker Edwin Poots.The taoiseach is also due to give a keynote address at the Dublin Belfast Economic Corridor Summit at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Belfast.
When was the last programme for government agreed?
It has been some time since a Stormont executive agreed a finalised programme for government.The last time an executive managed to get one over the line was during the assembly's fourth term between 2011 and 2015.One was also agreed in 2016 and went out to public consultation.But before it could be passed, the power-sharing institutions collapsed following the resignation of then Sinn Féin Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Belfast Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Over £50,000 worth of gifts and hospitality offered to Executive ministers in first year of Stormont return
revealed | Northern Ireland's Executive ministers were offered gifts and hospitality totalling more than £50,000 during their first year back at Stormont, data has revealed. The Assembly returned in February 2024 following a two-year hiatus after DUP ministers withdrew over objections to the NI Protocol arrangements for the UK's withdrawal from the EU.


Powys County Times
5 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Draft climate plan proposes hundreds of actions to protect Northern Ireland
Hundreds of actions are being considered in the latest proposed plan to tackle climate change in Northern Ireland. The draft third Northern Ireland climate change adaptation programme (NICCAP3) includes more than 250 actions suggested by government departments, councils, academia, NGOs, businesses and the public. These are aimed at improving resilience against the impacts of climate change to protect the economy, communities and environment from the worst impacts over the next five years. An eight-week public consultation will gather views on the proposals. Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir said the impacts of climate change are widespread and action is needed. 'In recent years, Northern Ireland has witnessed new record temperatures, significant fires in our countryside, widespread severe flooding events and damage to coastal infrastructure, impacting upon farming and food production, roads and other infrastructure such as our electricity and broadband networks,' he said. 'It is evident that the impacts of climate change are widespread and effective adaptation action to improve our resilience is required. 'I very much welcome the collaborative effort from across all government departments and wider society in developing the draft NICCAP3.' Ciaran Fox, the director of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects and chairman of Climate NI, said key stakeholders can help improve resilience to climate change. 'I welcome the proactive approach that has been taken to the development of the draft NICCAP3 through both the inclusion of actions from outside departments and the co-design approach that has been taken to the development of the high-level vision and aims,' he said. 'This approach recognises the important role key stakeholders from across all sectors can play in building and improving our resilience to climate change. 'The draft NICCAP3, through the series of short case studies included in it, demonstrates some of the positive work that has already been progressed. These help to demonstrate the role all sectors of society can play.' He added: 'It is crucial that we ensure our current processes and infrastructure take account of and are equipped to face the climate impacts highlighted in the Met Office's UK climate change projections and those impacts which are now already locked in.' The public consultation on NICCAP3 will close on August 4 2025.

ITV News
9 hours ago
- ITV News
Draft climate plan proposes hundreds of actions to protect Northern Ireland
Hundreds of actions are being considered in the latest proposed plan to tackle climate change in Northern Ireland. The draft third Northern Ireland climate change adaptation programme (NICCAP3) includes more than 250 actions suggested by government departments, councils, academia, NGOs, businesses and the public. These are aimed at improving resilience against the impacts of climate change to protect the economy, communities and environment from the worst impacts over the next five years. An eight-week public consultation will gather views on the proposals. Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir said the impacts of climate change are widespread and action is needed. 'In recent years, Northern Ireland has witnessed new record temperatures, significant fires in our countryside, widespread severe flooding events and damage to coastal infrastructure, impacting upon farming and food production, roads and other infrastructure such as our electricity and broadband networks,' he said. 'It is evident that the impacts of climate change are widespread and effective adaptation action to improve our resilience is required. 'I very much welcome the collaborative effort from across all government departments and wider society in developing the draft NICCAP3.' Ciaran Fox, the director of the Royal Society of Ulster Architects and chairman of Climate NI, said key stakeholders can help improve resilience to climate change. 'I welcome the proactive approach that has been taken to the development of the draft NICCAP3 through both the inclusion of actions from outside departments and the co-design approach that has been taken to the development of the high-level vision and aims,' he said. 'This approach recognises the important role key stakeholders from across all sectors can play in building and improving our resilience to climate change. 'The draft NICCAP3, through the series of short case studies included in it, demonstrates some of the positive work that has already been progressed. These help to demonstrate the role all sectors of society can play.' He added: 'It is crucial that we ensure our current processes and infrastructure take account of and are equipped to face the climate impacts highlighted in the Met Office's UK climate change projections and those impacts which are now already locked in.' The public consultation on NICCAP3 will close on August 4 2025.