Weekly Bulletin 21/7/25

What you need to know

Sinn Féin leader criticised by deputy First Minister fo “talking down” NI economy
During an interview on Monday (14 July) on Good Morning Britain, Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald TD said Northern Ireland was “not economically viable” as a territory, the Irish News reported. Ms McDonald said that partition had “cut off” the six counties “its natural political, social and economic hinterland”. “For us,” she added, “in economic terms, in social terms, in democratic terms Irish unity makes sense”. On Tuesday (15 July), deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly MLA rejected the comments, adding she was “sick of some who constantly talk down Northern Ireland”. According to the Belfast Telegraph, Ms Little-Pengelly highlighted the success of NI in attracting high levels of foreign direct investment, and that it has the lowest unemployment rate in the UK. She added “Northern Ireland deserves champions to promote all that is great about Northern Ireland.
What Next: The deputy First Minister has called on the First Minister and Sinn Féin Vice-President Michelle O’Neill MLA and Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA to clarify if they are “are they working to promote our economy or have they simply binned it as economically unviable”.

Health minister asks trust to pause consulation on emergency general surgery at south west acute hospital
On Wednesday (16 July), Health Minister Mike Nesbitt called on the Western Health and Social Care Trust to pause a consultation of the future of emergency general surgery at the South West Acute Hospital in Enniskillen, BBC News NI reported. In December 2022, emergency general surgery was temporarily suspended, meaning some patients in the area had to travel to Derry~Londonderry for treatment, which is up to an hour and a half’s drive away. On 3 July, the Western Trust’s board made the decision to consult on the permanent removal of emergency general surgery from the hospital. The Trust’s decision is opposed by campaign group Save Our Acute Services and the public consultation event in Enniskillen on the matter was postponed after a “high-level risk assessment” was carried out due to demand. In response, the Department of Health confirmed Minister Nesbitt has written to the Western Trust asking it to pause the consultation. Pat Cullen MP (Sinn Féin, Fermanagh and South Tyrone) said: “the onus is now on the Western Trust to rebuild public confidence and listen to them”.
What Next: The Department confirmed that Minister Nesbitt has “asked the Trust to use this time to act quickly to restore confidence by producing a vision plan emphasising how the South West Acute Hospital will be supported to meet both the needs of its current and future population”.

Veterans minister threatens to resign over plans to repeal legacy act
On Tuesday (15 July), the Times reported that the UK Government’s Veterans Minister Alistair Cairns MP has threatened to resign over the Labour government’s plans to repeal the Northern Ireland Troubles Legacy Act. The Irish Times further reported that backbenchers in working-class areas where lots of former soldiers live are warning of another backbench rebellion against the government over the plans. It comes amid criticism of the plans from veteran’s groups, citing concerns about prosecutions of former soldiers involved in ‘Operation Banner’. Over 175,000 people, including former NI Veterans Commissioner and UUP MP Danny Kinahan, signed a petition calling on the government not to repeal the Act. This prompted a Westminster Hall debate in the House of Commons on Monday (14 July). During the debate, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn MP defended the government’s plans, accusing the Conservatives of making “false promises” to veterans. Several Northern Ireland MPs who contributed to the debate warned against allowing inquests to recommence, with DUP leader Gavin Robinson MP saying they aim to “rewrite history” and are “laying the foundations for prosecutions”. During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday (15 July), in response to a question from former SDLP leader Colum Eastwood MP, the Prime Minsiter  said “the last Government made a false promise of immunity that does not exist”. He added that the Government “will create a secure, transparent system that protects veterans from unjustified persecution and gives victims, families and survivors the confidence they need in the process”.
What Next: Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn MP formally started the process of repealing the Act last December, but according to the Irish Times Labour, MPs have speculated that the government may now pull the plans or water them down, despite the fact that this may complicate relations with the Irish Government.

Stakeholder Watch

Órlaithí Flynn MLA (SF, West Belfast): “Too many families in West Belfast & beyond have been affected by suicide. Sinn Féin is committed to building a mental health system rooted in prevention, early intervention, and meaningful investment. Thank you @BBCNewsline & @KellyBonner [see video]. Have your say: here”.

Department for Communities: “Minister @GordonLyons1 recently met with @COPNI [Commissioner for Older People NI] Siobhan Casey, to discuss how they can work together to improve the lives of older people in Northern Ireland”.

Alliance Party ““The closure of a cross-community summer scheme due to sectarian views sends a clear message that NI needs to go a step further in its peace process” says @Kelmba [Kellie Armstrong MLA]. As a society, we should promote diversity among our children and teach them that their background shouldn’t matter”.

UUP: “Justice Spokesperson, @BeattieDoug [Doug Beattie MLA], has raised concerns around prisoner and staff ratio in HMP Maghaberry. “It is important that the Department of Justice and the Justice Minister keep elected representatives informed about the situation.” Read More”.

Leader of the Opposition Matthew O’Toole MLA (SDLP, South Belfast): [In response to an article which reported that commercial eel fishing on Lough Neagh will stop in 2025] “A reminder: the First Minister repeatedly went to the lough shore to promise action but so far her Executive has done next to nothing to address the crisis at Lough Neagh. Her party even voted with the DUP and TUV to block action on agricultural pollution. Spoofing the public.”

TUV leader Jim Allister MP: [In response to a post on deputy First Minister “defending the Northern Ireland economy”] “This doesn’t just raise questions for SF ministers in the executive, it raises the far more fundamental question as to why the DUP is sustaining SF in the executive to enable them to work against NI and economic success??”

Ambassador Warren Stephens (US Ambassador to the UK): Useful conversation with @ExecOfficeNI First Minister @moneillsf and Deputy First Minister @little_pengelly. Their collective leadership will help us deepen our economic partnerships and shared prosperity. Thanks for hosting me!”

Other stories

Economy Minister hosts reception for potential investors ahead of The Open
On Wednesday evening (16 July), Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA hosted a reception in Derry~Londonderry for potential investors from the US, Australia, India and Europe, ahead of the beginning of the 153rd Open golf event. Speaking at the event, Minister Archibald called Northern Ireland “a place of economic opportunity”. She added that Northern Ireland is “home to 1,500 international companies” and that last year Northern Ireland welcomed 19 new international inward investors. Minister Archibald said The Open was not only a “sporting spectacle”, but a “catalyst for economic development” and a “springboard” to greater regional balance, the creation of good jobs and the stimulation of local businesses development.

Competition and Markets Authority announcement provides social housing funding boost
Communities Minister Gordon Lyons MLAh has welcomed the announcement that Northern Ireland will benefit from a social housing funding boost, estimated to be £3.4 million, from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The UK-wide payment of £100m is made up of contributions from seven GB-based housebuilders, who have offered a package of commitments which the CMA will now consult on until 24 July 2025. According to The Guardian, the seven housebuilders agreed to pay £100m to affordable housing schemes after evidence showed that they may have been sharing commercially sensitive details, impacting the price of homes.

Calls for financial support for fishermen after commercial eel fishing suspended at Lough Neagh
On Friday (17 July), the Irish News reported that the Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-Operative Society (LNFCS) has decided to suspend commercial eel fishing in Lough Neagh for the remainder of the 2025 season. The LNFCS said the sector is a “casualty of significant environmental change within the lough”. The SDLP’s Patsy McGlone MLA and Sinn Féin’s Declan Kearney MLA have both called on the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir MLA to introduce a financial assistance scheme for eel fishermen. Minister Muir described the decision as “deeply regrettable” and said he will “meet with representatives of the industry in the coming days to discuss the implications and explore how we can help communities who have been impacted”.

Labour Market Statistics show slight drop in earnings and employment
On Thursday (17 July), the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency published the monthly labour market statistics. Headline findings showed that payrolled employees and median earnings decreased over the month of June 2025. Earnings data from HMRC PAYE indicated that NI employees had a median monthly pay of £2,344 in June 2025, a decrease of £28 (1.2%) over the last month and an increase of £26 (1.1%) over last year. The latest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the period March-May 2025 was 2.1%, which represents an increase of 0.6 percentage points (pps) over the quarter and an increase of 0.3pps over the year. The figures however show that the economic inactivity rate fell over the quarter to 26.3%, with the most common reason contributing to economic inactivity being long-term sickness (39.3%).

MPs call for action to tackle violence against women and girls in NI
The Commons Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has called for funding to tackle online abuse and a more joined-up approach across the UK to tackling violence against women and girls. The Committee had heard from organisations which support women who have experienced violence and were told that 98% of women in Northern Ireland have experienced at least one form of gender-based violence. Chair of the Committee, Tonia Antoniazzi MP (Labour, Gower) said the “shocking scale” of violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland “cannot be tolerated any longer”. The Committee’s recommendations include establishing an oversight board to coordinate a unified approach accross the UK to tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG).  And ringfencing UK Government funding dedicated to VAWG prevention and early intervention programmes run by grassroots and community organisations.

Communities Minister welcomes partnership agreement with community and voluntary sector
On Wednesday (16 July), Communities Minister Gordon Lyons MLA welcomed the new Partnership Agreement between the Northern Ireland Executive and the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS). The Partnership Agreement is designed to underpin and strengthen the relationship between Executive departments and the sector, while also recognising the “vital role the voluntary and community sector plays in delivering services, supporting people and communities, particularly in times of social and economic challenge”. The document sets shared principles and commitments and recognises the distinct roles of both the VCS and Government. It also outlines a set of Fair Funding principles, which will be adopted by Executive departments and their public bodies and Arm’s Length Bodies, and will be recommended to all local authorities.

NI parties respond to UK Government plans to extend voting to 16 and 17 year olds
On Thursday (17 July), the UK Government announced a change to the voting age for Westminster elections, allowing those aged 16 and 17 to vote in the next General Election (2029). In Scotland and Wales the voting age is already 16 for both local and devolved government elections. However, the Electoral Commission has said that plans to lower the voting age are unlikely to be implemented in time for the next Northern Ireland Assembly and local elections, both expected in 2027. In a press statement, SDLP leader Claire Hanna MP welcomed the Government’s announcement.. Sian Mulholland MLA (Alliance, North Antrim) said that the disenfranchisement of young people is a “major democratic deficit” for Northern Ireland and advocated for the changes to be implemented by 2027. Danny Baker MLA (Sinn Féin, West Belfast) confirmed that his party will “press the British Government” to ensure the changes are introduced by 2027. According to the Belfast Telegraph, Sammy Wilson MP (DUP, East Antrim) confirmed that his party will not back the changes to the voting age, saying that young people “are not really mature enough”.. UUP deputy leader Robbie Butler MLA (Lagan Valley) welcomed the changes to the voting age, but noted that such changes should be accompanied by changes in the education curriculum to include political education on the voting systems in both Northern Ireland and Westminster.

Across the border

Latest Irish Times/Ipsos poll shows Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil in tie for most popular party
The latest Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll shows that support for Sinn Féin has fallen by 4 percentage points since the last poll in April, landing them in a tie for most popular party with Fianna Fáil on 22%. Fine Gael appear to have arrested a slide in support since the general election last year, up one point to 17%. Support for Independents increased by 5 points to 22%, while the share of undecided voters is at 25%, up six points since April. Despite polling support for the governing coalition parties holding steady, just 14% of voters believe the Government is “making progress at tackling the problems facing the country”, compared to 30% who believe that progress has “stalled”, and 53% who say the “problems are getting worse”.

Occupied Territories Bill is “anti-Semitic symbolism”, Oireachtas Committee told
On Tuesday (15 July), the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade continued its pre-legislative scrutiny of the Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban the import of goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. The Committee heard evidence from the Ireland Israel Alliance, the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, and UK Lawyers For Israel. According to RTÉ News, the committee meeting included “pointed exchanges and combative language”, particularly from former Fine Gael Justice Minister Alan Shatter, who described the Bill as “anti-Semitic symbolism” and “riddled with obscurity and anomalies”. Members of the committee pushed back, with chairperson John Lahart TD (Fianna Fáil, Dublin South-West) describing claims of anti-Semitism as “slanderous”. The Bill was also criticised by a number of US members of congress in what the Irish Times said “would appear to be a concerted campaign”, as well as by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who posted: “Did the Irish fall into a vat of Guinness & propose something so stupid that it would be attributed to act of diplomatic intoxication?”. On Friday (18 July), the Irish Times reported new polling that found that 38% of respondents now say the Government should investigate possible consequences for Ireland before passing Bill, with a further 10% saying the Bill should not be passed at all, compared to 20% saying it shoudl be.

Irish aviation and drinks industries brace for impact of US-EU trade war
The Irish aviation and whiskey sectors are bracing for the impact of a US-EU trade war, the Irish Independent reports, after bourbon whiskey and Boeing aircraft were included on a list of US goods to be targeted with tariffs should the Trump administration go ahead with plans to impose a 30% tariffs on all EU imports. The draft reciprocal tariffs list proposed by the European Commission covers €72 billion worth of annual US imports, shorter than an earlier list of €95 billion of goods. Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD said “a 30% tariff is untenable and unsustainable” and would lead to “utter economic crisis”. He noted that the ESRI had warned that a 10% would cause “a decline in economic growth and an ease in employment creation” in Ireland, and that a 30% tariff could mean “huge economic decline”.

What we’re reading

Unionist unity is back on the agenda, but such a pact will not be easy to cement – Suzanne Breen
In Wednesday’s Belfast Telegraph, the paper’s political editor Suzanne Breen writes about the push for greater electoral cooperation between unionist parties to “prevent Michelle O’Neill becoming First Minister again”. She notes that pro-union campaign group Uniting UK, founded by UUP Ards and North Down councillor Philip Smith, has distributed a survey through unionist parties, loyal orders, and community groups, seeking the grassroots’ view on a “political realignment”. Breen writes that the DUP is “clearly keen on that conversation”, citing party leader Gavin Robinson’s message to party members ahead of Twelfth of July celebrations when he said that “we must explore how to maximise the pro-Union vote and return more unionist representatives, not fewer”. Breen says that this is “unsurprising” given that the DUP has been “languishing” at around 18% in recent polls, “with disillusioned voters switching to TUV and, so far, showing no signs of returning”. Breen adds that “with the UUP and TUV both on 12% in the last poll, there is no indication that the continuing three-way split in unionism will disappear anytime soon”. However, an electoral coalition between the DUP and UUP “could potentially put Stormont’s top job back in reach for unionism”. Breen says that in order to be treated as one entity under Assembly rules and thus eligible to claim the First Minister post, there would need to be “a joint leadership and a single headquarters”. While this is “not straightforward”, she continues, “the desire among some to move in that direction is obvious”. The DUP lost three seats in 2024, she notes, and a further two will be vulnerable next time out, with Gregory Campbell and Sammy Wilson holding their seats by narrow margins and neither expected to run again. Turning to the TUV, Breen says that while the party “seems potentially up for a Westminster election pact, it’s unlikely to play ball in Assembly and council elections”. She cites TUV press officer Sammy Morrison who claims that a unionist coalition will only “galvanise the nationalist vote around Sinn Féin at the expense of the SDLP”. On the other hand, she concludes, Councillor Philip Smith believes a realignment could be a “game changer” for unionism, generating confidence, positivity, and turnout on election day.

Forward Look

Monday 20 July
Houses of the Oireachtas summer recess begins

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

Monday 1 September
UK Parliament returns from summer recess
NI Assembly returns from summer recess

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.

Wednesday 17 September
Houses of the Oireachtas return from summer recess

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 begins

Friday 24 – Saturday 25 April 2026
Sinn Féin Ard Fheis – Waterfront Hall, Belfast