Border poll 'not top of my list of priorities', says Bryant

By Rebecca Black, Press Association

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant has said that a Border poll is “not top of my list of priorities”.

Bryant was asked for his position on the matter during his first official visit to the region in the role since his appointment by Britain's prime minister Andy Burnham on July 20.

Under the terms of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, the North's Secretary of State can decide to hold a Border poll, and also places a duty on the office holder to call one if it appears likely a majority would vote for Irish unification.

The people of the Republic must also vote in favour to effect constitutional change.

Bryant had previously told Sky News that a vote on a united Ireland “may come at some point”.

Speaking to media in Belfast on Friday, Bryant said the criteria for a border poll is laid out in the 1998 accord, describing it as “very simple, basically that the Secretary of State thinks that it’s the right time”.

“It’s not top of my list of priorities,” he said, describing the Troubles Bill and Stormont budget as things he wants to get done.

Pressed on whether he believes a united Ireland will happen, Bryant said: “I believe a lot of things.

“I am deliberately avoiding answering the question.

“I am not starting the poll now, or this week, or this month, or, I will suggest, this year.”

Bryant has said he has arrived for his first official visit with a “check list” rather than a “cheque book”.

Budgets

As Stormont ministers have been unable to agree a budget for the current financial year, with departments operating on contingency budgets since April, Bryant expressed his determination to “keep the show on the road”.

Ministers across the four-party Executive have consistently made the point that they need more money from the Treasury to address a funding crisis facing public services in the region.

From Saturday, just 95 per cent of last year’s funding will be available to spend after the Executive passes a deadline to agree a budget under public finance laws.

Stormont Opposition leader Matthew O’Toole had sounded alarms about this deadline, pressing Executive ministers to act to avoid facing this effective funding cut.

Earlier Stormont Finance Minister John O’Dowd said it is “decision time” for the UK Government to properly fund Northern Ireland.

John O’Dowd said while Bryant and Britain's chancellor John Healey have recently come into post, their officials are aware of the issues in the North.

Responding to those comments, Bryant said he is not expecting any decisions to be made today around the Stormont budget.

He was speaking ahead of meeting the Stormont parties while agreement on a budget remains outstanding, with calls for further funding for the administration.

Speaking to media in Belfast, Bryant said he will be in “listening mode”.

“I am not expecting us to be making decisions today, I am in very much listening mode. We have two ears and one mouth for good reason,” he said.

“Quite a few politicians from Northern Ireland have already raised with me: ‘Are you coming with a cheque book?’ And actually I am coming with a bit of a check list of things I want to get sorted and done. One of those is of course we have to get to a situation where we can have a proper budget.

“But we also need to make sure that public services in Northern Ireland are delivering for people.

“I note some of the issues in the NHS, some of the additional costs that there are in Northern Ireland that need to be looked at.

“I have already had the briefest of conversations with the chief secretary to the Treasury, and I want to pursue some of those conversations so we get to a long-lasting settlement.

“I want to keep the show on the road.”

In a statement on Friday morning, the North's Justice Minister Naomi Long expressed her disappointment that agreement remains outstanding over a Stormont budget.

She said Northern Ireland’s justice sector is not funded appropriately, adding the lack of investment has “hindered the progress of reform and transformation”.

https://x.com/Justice_NI/status/2083115828895998248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

“Allocations in the proposed Draft Budget do nothing to reduce that historic funding gap and this will continue to impact on a range of areas such as policing, prisons, legal aid, courts and probation,” she said.

“There is very limited further action that my department can take in terms of savings measures. Our proportional budget strength has declined while demand on the justice system has risen starkly, meaning that we have continually had to make efficiencies each year. My department has now reached the point where all reasonable options have been exhausted.

“If the draft budget is implemented, without additional funding being provided to meet our inescapable pressures, this will result in a further and unacceptable slowing down of the justice system, compromising its ability to preserve life, protect the public and keep people safe.”