2024 General Election: Northern Ireland parties clash in UTV debate

Northern Ireland’s five main parties clashed over Brexit, the Stormont budget and Irish unity during the UTV election debate.

The programme was held at the station’s Belfast studios and aired on Sunday evening.

Among the participants were Gavin Robinson, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and John Finucane, leader of Sinn Fein.

Also in attendance were Colum Eastwood, leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), Naomi Long, leader of the Alliance Party, and Robbie Butler, deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP).

The UK general election will take place on July 4th, with 18 seats in Northern Ireland at stake.

Mr Robinson defended the agreement which saw the DUP end a two-year boycott of Stormont’s devolved government and legislative assembly in February.

The DUP leader acknowledged last month that a deal with the British government aimed at addressing unionist concerns about post-Brexit trade checks had been overstated.

But Mr Robinson, who is seeking re-election in his Belfast East constituency, said he wanted to “build on the progress we have made”.

He said the “full results” of the DUP’s efforts would be seen “later this year”.

“We are very clear that we have a roadmap. We have made progress when others have not shown any interest or effort,” he said.

Mr Long, who is challenging Mr Robinson in the Belfast East constituency, criticised the DUP’s record at Westminster.

“During the last term the DUP created the chaos of Brexit, the collapse of Parliament and a very negative outlook for Northern Ireland,” she said.

The alliance leader said “more positive voices need to be heard” in Westminster.

Mr Finucane defended Sinn Féin’s policy of abstention, meaning its MPs do not take seats in the House of Commons.

He said Sinn Fein councillors were speaking “directly to British Government ministers”.

Mr Finucane, who is seeking re-election in north Belfast, also said his party’s MPs were representing the party in Dublin, Brussels and the United States.

Mr Eastwood, who is seeking re-election in his Foyle constituency, said “people are harmed” by not being represented in the House of Commons.

“I firmly believe that if you’re not there, it’s not worth anything,” the SDLP leader added.

“Ask any MP from across the political spectrum in Westminster and they won’t actually know who a Sinn Féin MP is.”

Mr Butler, who is standing for the UUP in Lagan Valley, criticised Sinn Féin and the DUP for destroying the Stormont Executive over the past few years.

The UUP deputy leader said the budget allocation for the Department of Health, which his party is in charge of, was unfair.

“We believe equitable allocations were not made and we are working with our executive partners to remedy that,” he said.

“We see no contradiction in our position.”

Party leaders also disagreed over the possibility of Northern Ireland leaving the UK and joining the Republic of Ireland.

Robinson said this was “a boring repetition of aspirations that have never been supported for the past 25 years.”

The DUP leader said talking about a united Ireland was “as appealing as politely discussing amputating your own leg”.

He also criticised the leader of the Alliance party, which remains neutral on constitutional issues, for agreeing to attend a conference of groups calling for a united Ireland.

Mr Robinson said he would not be attending any Ireland’s Future events, adding: “I do not agree with leaving the polls and hiding out on the Ghost Train at Barry’s during an election for fear of scaring voters.”

Mrs. Long responded: “I wasn’t hiding, I was campaigning.”

The coalition’s leader said “describing any kind of constitutional settlement” as Robinson did “is an insult to a large portion of the electorate.”

Sinn Féin’s Mr Finucane argued the Irish Government was only paying “lip service” to the issue and said the discussion should be led by the Irish Government.

SDLP leader Mr Eastwood said the talks should be part of a “process of reconciliation” and that bringing the whole island into the economic zone presented “huge opportunities”.

But Butler said he hasn’t yet heard anything that would convince him to amend the constitution.

“As a Unionist, it is my responsibility to see Northern Ireland function and thrive,” the UUP councillor said.

At the last Westminster election in 2019, the DUP won the most seats in Northern Ireland with eight, followed by Sinn Féin in second place with seven. The Socialist Workers’ Party won two seats and the Alliance won one seat.

Sinn Féin is set to become the largest party in Stormont for the first time in the 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly elections, and repeat the feat at parliamentary level in 2023.

The five party leaders will also take part in the BBC leaders’ debate on Thursday evening, answering questions in front of a studio audience.

It will air on BBC One NI from 21:00 BST.

As expected, the debate saw lively and sometimes heated exchanges between Northern Ireland’s five main parties.

With both Stormont leaders absent, the key battle was between the DUP’s Gavin Robinson and the Alliance’s Naomi Long, both competing for the same parliamentary seat in east Belfast.

Sinn Féin’s John Finucane and the Socialist Labour Party’s Colum Eastwood also disagreed over whether Irish nationalists should have seats in Westminster.

UUP deputy leader Robbie Butler will be hoping the TV appearance will help raise his profile in the Lagan Valley constituency race.

The Northern Ireland election campaign has been fairly stagnant so far, but this latest debate could intensify the battle.