DUP table motion for dissolution of Stormont

As MLAs returned to Stormont after the summer recess today, the DUP marked the occasion by tabling a motion calling for the dissolution of the assembly and an autumn election.

Presented by DUP leader the Reverend Ian Paisley, the motion will now be sent to the business committee to schedule debate on the matter. Afterwards, Mr Paisley said that "the time for words is past".

"It's time to halt the slide in Northern Ireland. While Mr Trimble and his party concentrate on self-preservation, Sinn Féin/IRA are allowed to continue to set the agenda and pace. This cannot be allowed to continue," he said.

There is no real prospect for the motion being carried as it must secure the support of two thirds of assembly members – or 72 votes out of 108 – to be approved, and no other party is expected to back the DUP.

The motion was dismissed by the UUP, with Environment Minister Dermot Nesbitt describing the move as "a publicity stunt".

He also said that there is no real alternative being offered by the anti-agreement DUP.

“Peter Robinson has said his party will enter into negotiations with democratic parties and accepts there will be other parties in that process. However, he won’t bring forward an alternative solution, arguing that it would have to be negotiated with other parties," he said.

“The DUP should be putting its hand to the wheel – as it does behind the scenes in the Assembly – and be up front about what it is doing. They sit on committees with Sinn Féin, accompany them on trips and vote with them in the division lobbies. This latest move is nothing more than a smokescreen,” he said.

(GMcG)