SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood has called on parties to agree to the reform of the Petition of Concern in principle as a way to restore power sharing.
The Foyle MLA was speaking after the Secretary of State announced an intensive phase of talks this week.
Stormont hasn’t sat for over 1,000 days after Sinn Fein walked out in a row with the DUP in January 2017.
Said Mr Eastwood: “The strategy of the last 1000 days has been an abject failure. Hospital waiting lists are growing, children are not having their special educational needs met in our classrooms, vulnerable people are facing crippling debt if welfare is not sorted. By any measurement, that’s an abysmal record.
“It’s time to change the record.
“We cannot continue in our trenches, hurling insults and demands at each other while no one is prepared to come out and meet in the middle.
“The SDLP has made bold proposals for a fair reform of the Petition of Concern that, we believe, all parties can back that would allow the restoration of government in the short term.
“We know there is an assembly majority for Irish language legislation, for marriage equality, for welfare mitigation and more.
“The only people who benefit from this stalemate are those who refuse to accept those measures.
“I feel the burden to restore government. I understand the pain and the stress people are feeling in our communities. But we must be clear – the SDLP and others are doing all we can to get an Executive back. The failure to compromise or to endorse the compromise we have proposed lies with the DUP and Sinn Féin. We have not been found wanting and will not be found wanting this week.
“It’s time to restore government and deliver for the people we represent.”
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