Daithi's Law: DUP insists: Our voters back Stormont boycott

The party stressed that it is being “guided by our mandate” in its refusal to resurrect devolution, ahead of today’s noon sitting of the assembly.

The DUP has been boycotting Stormont for just over a year now in protest against the NI Protocol.

This latest recall is to discuss Daithi’s Law – named after six-year-old Belfast heart transplant candidate Daithi Mac Gabhann.

It will replace the current system where a person must opt-in to being a donor with one in which people are automatically assumed to be donors unless they opt out.

Stormont passed a bill last year laying the groundwork for the new law, but MLAs must vote through some further details before it can be activated.

That is the ostensible reason why Stormont has been recalled.

There is no onus on MLAs to turn up, and there is no penalty if they do not.

But whether they do or not, no business will actually get done because the DUP will refuse to nominate a new speaker or any deputies – a pre-requisite for a sitting to take place.

This is because a supposedly one-off revival of Stormont could actually open the door to a general return of the assembly because, if the DUP helped elect a speaker and deputies, even if they quit after Daithi’s Law is passed MLAs can continue to meet.

Daithi’s Law has wide cross-party support, including nationalist and unionist factions in the assembly.

However, the three main unionist parties say the law can be changed by the Tory government in Westminster without needing to involve the assembly – as has already happened with abortion and an Irish language act.

The Tory government, meanwhile, insists the assembly route is quicker.

In a message to his party colleagues setting out the position at the weekend, Sir Jeffrey restated his belief that Daithi’s Law was being used by some politicians as “blackmail for the return of devolution”.

“Westminster is sovereign and can resolve the issue quickly,” he said.

“Given Sinn Fein’s politicking on the matter, let’s see if they take their seats in Westminster to help pass this law in the House of Commons. We won’t hold our breath.

“The DUP is representing its electorate and there will be no return to a fully functioning Stormont without unionists.”

And in a statement yesterday the party’s NI Protocol spokesman Gordon Lyons rammed home the message further, saying: “Tuesday’s sitting will be the fifth time the NI Assembly has been recalled since last year’s election.

“On each of the four previous occasions those who submitted the recall petition knew in advance that a speaker would not be elected and those bringing MLAs to Stormont once again know the outcome will be the same.

“Warnings that devolution and the protocol were incompatible were ignored by many of the same parties who now feign surprise that the DUP continues to be guided by our mandate.”

TUV leader ​Jim Allister, who backs the DUP’s Stormont boycott, said that having an assembly whilst the protocol remains unresolved is “intolerable”.

“In terms of the Daithi’s Law situation, the passing of this law should take place in the operative legislature, Westminster,” he said.

“The secretary of state should cease his political blackmailing and get on with doing so.

“If Sinn Fein are so exercised about the issue let their MPs take their seats at Westminster and help it through.”

The comparison is far from exact, however; the DUP’s boycott of Stormont ensures it does not function, whilst the House of Commons functions regardless of whether Sinn Fein’s seven MPs sit in it.

​And UUP leader Doug Beattie meanwhile said the sitting (which his MLAs will attend) will only succeed in “straining relations further”.

"The onus is still on the secretary of state to act to prevent further delay to the organ donation legislation,” said Mr Beattie, who opposes the DUP’s boycott.

“I find this situation deeply frustrating. We are seeing issues now starting to pile up while Stormont remains idle.”