THE SDLP’s only Minister in the Executive has warned she will consider withdrawal if Ministers from other parties stop her “from delivering”. Margaret Ritchie, Minister for Social Development, issued her warning at the weekend as the Executive prepared to meet to help clear the backlog of work after the five-month stand-off between Sinn Féin and the DUP.
Ministers are also to see a paper today produced by Minister for Finance Nigel Dodds aimed at countering the downturn and helping those hit hardest by significant rises in food and energy costs. Mr Dodds is also due to address the Assembly which has planned an extra plenary sitting.
This is prompting SDLP fears that Sinn Féin and the DUP, the two largest parties, have agreed among themselves what should be done, while Ministers from the other parties are marginalised.
Recent meetings of the Executive have seen sharp exchanges between Ms Ritchie and others.
She told BBC Radio Ulster: “I won’t be bullied by anybody. If there comes a time when Executive colleagues and others deliberately stop me from delivering, then that will give my party an opportunity, and myself, to consider our role in government.”
Sinn Féin hit back at the Minister last night. Senior Assembly spokesman John O’Dowd said: “Claims by Margaret Ritchie that she is being bullied by unionists have little credibility when only a matter of weeks ago she was sharing joint platforms with the DUP and UUP to attack Sinn Féin over our defence of the Good Friday and St Andrews Agreements.
“It was the democratic process which decided the make-up of the Executive. The SDLP in general and Margaret Ritchie in particular should get on with making these institutions work.”
Today’s Executive meeting is discussing the process of identifying and re-allocating unused department funds. The Sinn Féin/DUP-led Executive is keen to announce a package of measures to help those worst affected by the downturn and rising energy costs.
But the SDLP suspects the largest parties have “pre-cooked” measures without regard for the Ulster Unionists and the SDLP.
Ms Ritchie said: “What I want to protect [against] is that there is no smash-and-grab raid on my department to prevent those who are fuel-poor and homeless from getting what they are entitled to.”