Weekly Bulletin

Long-awaited Anti-Poverty Strategy met with widespread criticism
On Tuesday (17 June), Communities Minister Gordon Lyons MLA published the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy 2025-2035, 17 years after the Executive first committed to introducing a strategy. Speaking in the Assembly, Minister Lyons said that the draft strategy focuses on three key pillars: minimising the risk of falling into poverty, reducing the impact of poverty on people’s lives, and working to help people out of poverty. SDLP communities spokesperson, Mark H Durkan MLA, described the document as “underwhelming”, adding that it “calls into question not just the Executive’s ability to tackle poverty but their appetite and ambition to do so”. Sinn Féin’s Colm Gildernew MLA, who chairs the Assembly Communities Committee, said he was “struck by the number of times that the strategy references things that you will continue to do, meaning that there are few new actions in it”. It comes after members of the Executive, including First Minister Michelle O’Neill, said the draft strategy “could go further” after the Executive approved the draft document last month.
What Next: The draft strategy will be subject to an extended 14-week public consultation, closing on 19 September. Minister Lyons emphasised that the Bill is still in draft form, and that specific targets will be put in place in a subsequent action plan.

Draft Climate Action Plan published for consultation
On Thursday (19 June), the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Andrew Muir MLA launched the draft Climate Action Plan (CAP), setting out how Northern Ireland will cut emissions by an annual average of 33% between 2023 and 2027. It covers nine sectors, including energy, transport, agriculture, waste and buildings, and specifically proposes a new programme to encourage renewable electricity. According to BBC News, the plan targets that at least 80% of electricity used in Northern Ireland will come from renewables by 2030 and proposes sustainable transport, cleaner home heating, and improved recycling. It also avoids reducing livestock numbers, choosing not to follow a recommendation from the UK Climate Change Committee, which had previously recommended “radical action”. Minister Muir described the plan as “a roadmap towards a more sustainable future”. Sinn Féin have welcomed the publication, with environment and climate spokesperson Aoife Finnegan MLA saying they will ensure it is “underpinned by just transition principles”. However, the DUP have come out against the plan, with deputy leader Michelle McIlveen MLA saying Minister Muir “appears to have learned nothing from the Nutrients Action Programme debacle”.
What Next: During the 16-week consultation period, DAERA will hold 10 public events and 2 online sector-specific sessions for people to attend for more information. The consultation will close on 8 October 2025.

SDLP call for enhanced hate crime legislation in wake of riots
The News Letter reported on Sunday (15 June) that the SDLP has called for enhanced hate crime legislation, greater resources for the PSNI, and for the Executive to publish a timeline for the publication of the refugee integration and racial equality strategies. Leader of the Opposition Matthew O’Toole MLA said the Executive must have a “clear, coordinated response” to last week’s riots. On hate crime laws, he said this was something that Justice Minister Naomi Long MLA “said was a priority but has seen no progress since Stormont returned”. However, the TUV’s Timothy Gaston MLA opposed calls for hate crime legislation, saying it would open “Pandora’s box of consequences”. He said political parties need to “have honest and open debate about the very real issues which pertain to immigration… without the cat-calling of racism”.
What Next: Justice Minister Naomi Long MLA has previously said she does not plan to bring forward stand-alone hate crime legislation in this mandate, but a “statutory aggravation offence model” for hate crime is set to be introduced as part of the Sentencing Bill, due to be brought to the Assembly before the end of this year.

Sinn Féin: “Israeli war criminals should be before the courts, not Mo Chara of Kneecap. Sinn Féin joined with huge crowds at court in solidarity with Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh & the people of Palestine. The Irish people will not be silenced by the British establishment. Saoirse don Phalaistín”

Sammy Wilson MP: “My comments on the passing, at Third Reading, of the Assisted Suicide Bill. A dark day for our nation.” [watch]

Alliance Party: “40% of our drinking water in NI comes from Lough Neagh. We have to deal with water quality issues here before it’s too late to turn it around, says @AndrewMuirNI”

Robbie Butler MLA: “The passing of the assisted dying bill is not a good moment for Westminster. Too many MPs not interested, too many not attending, too many not interested in pre vote amendments and the consequences. Sincerely hoping for better scrutiny and more rigorous endeavour at the House of Lords.”

Matthew O’Toole MLA: “The Speaker is right. The standard of Assembly debate is pathetic and too many in Executive parties are unwilling or unable to make coherent arguments for the policies they vote for. Our role in Opposition is about creating a culture of debate, scrutiny and accountability.”

Jim Allister MP: “A sad week for our nation” [watch]

Gerry Carroll MLA: “Attended the launch of @UniteunionNI Workers in the Eye of the Storm report on Monday. Nobody should be exposed to danger in the course of their work. Protection from extreme weather events is even more urgent in this era of climate collapse.”

Jack Chamber TD, Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Reform & Digitalisation: “Good to meet Minister @JohnODowdSF at the North-South Ministerial Council on trade, the economy, and how we can co-operate on a range of policy areas.”

Political insiders detail reasons for poor policy delivery
A new report by Pivotal, a Nortehrn Ireland-based public policy think tank, has said that the Executive, Assembly, and Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) suffer from “policy paralysis”. Researchers conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with former Ministers, senior civil servants, special advisors, MLAs, and business or voluntary sector representatives. Executive ministers were criticised as being “pre-occupied by the day-to-day” and showing a lack of urgency to get things done. The Executive as a whole described not as “one government” but “a series of departments”. The report also says that MLAs need to improve their scrutiny roles, highlighting deficiencies in committee and Assembly questions. The report strongly criticised the culture in NICS, which was described as unhelpfully “hierarchical and deferential to senior people”. It also highlighted that “being a generalist” was rewarded in NICS as opposed to developing specific skills, creating shortfalls in “commercial, digital, AI and data skills”. It was claimed that “consultancies are making millions” from the civil service

Speaker criticises MLAs for reciting pre-written speeches in Assembly debates
Assembly Speaker Edwin Poots MLA has written a letter to all MLAs in which he criticised the declining standards of debate. According to BBC News, Mr Poots warned that if MLAs continue to rely on “pre-scripted speeches” without interaction, “we could do it by email”. He also emphasised the need for a strong culture of parliamentary debate, grounded in “good temper, contest, moderation and respect towards other members”. While he affirmed members’ rights to express strong views, Mr Poots called for greater civility and responsiveness.

MLAs approve new body to set their salaries
On Monday (16 June), a Bill to establish an independent remuneration board to set MLA salaries and pensions passed its final stage in the Assembly. According to BBC News, the board will replace the defunct Independent Financial Review Panel (IFRP), which was dissolved in 2016. MLAs currently earn £53,000 per year, which is less than their counterparts in Scotland (£74,507) and Wales (£76,380). Like the IFRP, the new panel will consider other jurisdictions when setting MLA salaries. Two MLAs voiced opposition to the bill, with the TUV’s Timothy Gaston MLA calling it “a vehicle to enable MLAs to award themselves a substantial pay rise” and People Before Profit’s Gerry Carroll MLA describing it as “tone deaf”. Mr Carroll also criticised the fact that the new board will not set rules on MLA expenses. In response, Sinn Féin’s Sinéad Ennis MLA, the party’s representative on the Assembly Commission rejected claims of self-interest. She said the commission had been focused “on the process of determining members’ salaries, not the outcome”

 MLAs vote in favour of motion opposing Nutrients Action Programme
On Tuesday (10 June), MLAs voted in favour of the motion ‘Opposing Plans for the Nutrients Action Programme 2026-2029’, put forward by the DUP. The motion calls on the Minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir MLA, to “immediately withdraw” the current public consultation on the NAP to “provide time and space to develop a genuinely multi-sectoral and multi-agency approach”. DUP Deputy Leader Michelle McIlveen MLA said the NAP proposals are “dangerously disconnected from the on-the-ground reality”. Responding to the motion, Minister Muir said those calling for him to “scrap the NAP” are “consciously consigning Lough Neagh to becoming a dead lake”. He said he will move forward with the consultation, which closes on 24 July. The SDLP opposed the motion, with Matthew O’Toole MLA saying Sinn Féin, the DUP, and the UUP are “abandoning their commitment to save Lough Neagh”. The motion was carried by 52 votes in favour, with 23 against. 

Windsor Framework is “ineffective, opaque and overly bureaucratic”, DUP Leader says
DUP Leader Gavin Robinson NP has told the House of Lords Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee that the structures of the Windsor Framework are “ineffective, opaque and overly bureaucratic”, RTÉ News reports. Mr Robinson criticised what he framed as a lack of consultation with Northern Ireland, saying: “We have at the heart of this an agreement between the UK and the EU where they decide what is going to happen to Northern Ireland without any recourse to the citizenry of Northern Ireland or the elected representatives.” Leader of the Opposition, the SDLP’s Matthew O’Toole MLA, also appeared before the committee. He said that while he supported the framework, he believed there was room to improve “the mechanisms by which stakeholders in Northern Ireland – be they politicians, business groups, trade unions, other parts of civic society – can have their voice heard”

Ministers launch Careers Action Plan
On Wednesady (18 June), Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA and Education Minister Paul Givan MLA launched a three-year Careers Action Plan (2025-28). The plan seeks to “transform career services” in NI. Its strategic outcomes include establishing a careers ecosystem, introducing careers education at primary school age, reforming careers delivery, expanding support for learners with special educational needs, and developing a careers portal providing resources for people of all ages. The Action Plan will see providers of careers services, both in and outside of school settings, work more closely, share resources and knowledge, embrace new technologies, and collaborate to support users

Man who sent threatening online messages to deputy First Minister jailed for 31 months
An east Belfast man who sent threatening online messages to the deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly MLA has been handed a 31-month prison sentence, the News Letter reports. Aaron Thomas Curragh posted death threats on X and posted a video which appeared to be pointing in the direction of Mrs Little-Pengelly’s house. Mrs Little-Pengelly said the incident “affected me deeply, made me feel uncomfortable and I hated my own house”. Mr Curragh also pleaded guilty to criminal damage, for smashing several windows at the constituency office of DUP MLA Joanne Bunting.

No plans to legalise assisted dying in NI after MPs pass bill
The Department of Health has confirmed to the BBC that it has no plans to legalise assisted dying in NI, after MPs narrowly approved a Bill legalising assisted dying in England and Wales by just 23 votes. The Bill will now go to the House of Lords. The only MP from Northern Ireland who backed the legislation was Colum Eastwood of the SDLP, while all unionist and Alliance MPs voted against. 

Central Bank revises housing forecast downwards
The Central Bank has said it expects around 32,500 homes to be completed in Ireland this year, down from 35,000 predicted in March, the Journal reports. The bank also cautioned that there is a “considerable downside risk” due to bottlenecks in housing supply and infrastructure. Minister for Housing James Browne TD conceded on Thursday (19 July) that hitting the government’s target of 41,000 is now “not realistic”. “I think the challenge we have this year is we’re coming off a much lower base from last year than was expected,” he said of the housing targets. We had hoped for much higher figures last year,” he added. It comes as new measures on rent controls were signed into law on Thursday night. Opposition parties have continued to criticise the policy, with Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald TD describing the changes as a “blueprint to boost the profit of the big boys and to screw over renters”

Irish far right use social media effectively to spread hate, says research
New research from University College Cork has found that the Irish far right is using the online world to “build its base” and to spread “ideologies of hate”, the Irish Examiner reports. The study states that the “most prominent” manifestation of far-right activity in Ireland is online, including though social media influencers, rather than in elections. It said: “while Irish far-right political parties may fail at the polls, social media platforms can be effective in spreading hate, which due to the mainstreaming effect, is often the primary objective of new online far-right networks.” It said the far right had succeeded in “influencing metapolitics” thus “creating distrust in mainstream institutions and political parties”

Colum Eastwood considering run for Irish presidency as Michelle O’Neill does not rule herself out
Former SDLP leader and MP for Foyle Colum Eastwood is considering contesting the forthcoming Irish Presidential election. Mr Eastwood told BBC News NI: “There’s very few candidates in the field right now. It’s something that needs a lot of consideration.” Eastwood had been suggested as a possible candidate for Fianna Fáil, as the two parties had been linked under Eastwood’s leadership from 2019 to 2022. However, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin TD said he had not heard that Eastwood was considering running, and said he his party “have not concluded deliberations, at all.” He did call Eastwood “a very capable, effective parliamentarian”. Meanwhile, when asked if she would contest the race, First Minister Michelle O’Neill MLA laughed and said “we are working our way through our deliberations in terms of the presidential race itself”, but did not rule herself out. She added that if she were to run, she would not be able to vote, referring to a recent Sinn Féin motion calling for the franchise in presidential elections to be extended to Irish citizens in NI. The election has to be held before 11 November

The key questions that need to be answered before a unity referendum can even be considered – Paul Gosling
In Friday’s Irish News, Paul Gosling writes: “Even when Stormont is ‘functioning’, it continues to be dysfunctional.” He suggests that the structure of the Executive produces “deferral and avoidance” of difficult decisions that Sinn Féin and the DUP cannot agree on. His own experience  from working at Stormont was “of some Executive ministers treating their departments as communal fiefdoms”, making decisions that benefit ‘their people’. He does not believe that Stormont can be reformed in a way to allow difficult decisions to be taken. And the suggestion by some proponents of Irish unity that Stormont would continue as part of a federal system is “simply absurd”. This is just one example of what he describes as “the lack of detailed consideration around Irish unity”. There are also outstanding questions about the new constitution of a new Ireland, such as the flag, the anthem, and recognition of British identity. Gosling notes that while polls have shown that “support in the South for Irish unity is broad, it may also be shallow if those in the Republic are required to make concessions”. He suggests establishing a committee of constitutional legal experts. There is also the question of cost of the unity subvention. Estimates vary widely, “with Professor John Doyle placing it in the low billions (£2.4bn) and Professor John FitzGerald estimating it at the high billions (circa £17bn)”. Gosling highlights that the “conflicting calculations” are derived from other unanswered questions, such as “which national government post-unity would accept liability for state pensions”. “Another core question”, he writes, “is how quickly the North would be integrated into the South”. He notes that East Germany still lags behind the West 35 years after reunification there. Without resolving the practical matters, Gosling concludes, “all discussion of a border poll is little more than unhelpful and unproductive hot air”.

Monday 23 June
The Assembly will vote on Legislative Consent Motions on the Crime and Policing Bill and the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill. It will also debate a motion on Improving Sentencing Practices in Northern Ireland, tabled by the UUP. The Executive Office and the Infrastructure Minister will answer questions in the chamber. View the full order paper here.
The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee will be briefed by the NI Secretary Hilary Benn MP. 

Tuesday 24 June
The Minister for Justice will answer questions in the chamber. View the full order paper here

Wednesday 25 June
The Assembly Committees for Infrastructure, Economy, Finance, Education, and The Executive Office will meet – View committee agendas here.
The Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee will hear evidence from NI Secretary Hilary Benn MP and Minister for EU Relations Nick Thomas-Symonds MP.

Thursday 26 June
The Assembly Committees for Agriculture, Health,  Environment and Rural Affairs, Communities, and the Public Accounts Committee will meet – View committee agendas here.  

Friday 27 – Sunday 29 June
Welsh Labour Party Conference – Venue Cymry, Llandudno

Monday 30 June
Windsor Framework Independent Monitoring Panel to submit its report to the NI Secretary – Read more here.

Tuesday 1 July – Thursday 2 July
ICTU Biennial Delegate Conference, Waterfront Hall, Belfast – Read more here.

Saturday 5 July
NI Assembly summer recess begins

Tuesday 22 July
UK Parliament summer recess
Publication of the Murphy Review of Windsor Framework

Sunday 31 August
NI Assembly returns from summer recess

Friday 5 September
NI Chamber Festival of Business – St. George’s Market, Belfast – Read more here.

Friday 19 September
Centre for Cross Border Cooperation Annual Conference – Ballymascanlon Hotel, Dundalk – Read more here.

Friday 19 – Saturday 20 September
DUP Party Conference – Crowne Plaza Hotel, Belfast

Saturday 20 – Tuesday 23 September
Liberal Democrats Party Conference – Bournemouth International Centre

Wednesday 24 September 
NI Energy Summit, ICC Belfast – Read more here.

Sunday 28 September – Wednesday 1 October
Labour Party Conference – ACC Liverpool

Friday 3 October – Saturday 4 October
SDLP Conference – Crowne Plaza Hotel, Belfast

Friday 3 – Sunday 5 October
Green Party of England and Wales Conference – Bournemouth International Centre

Sunday 5 October – Wednesday 8 October
Conservative Party Conference – Manchester Central Convention Complex

Saturday 25 October – Sunday 2 November
NI Assembly Halloween recess

Saturday 13 December
NI Assembly Christmas recess