12 May 2026
SDLP Leader of the Opposition Matthew O’Toole MLA has said that the Executive abdication of its responsibility to set a Budget is all the more irresponsible at a time of political chaos in Westminster – with UK ministers even less focused on Northern Ireland than normal.
He was speaking after Finance Minister John O’Dowd said he’d be seeking a further meeting with the UK Government and it was confirmed yesterday that funding awards made under the Good Relations Fund are being held up due to the absence of an agreed Budget.
South Belfast MLA Matthew O’Toole said:
“For well over a month now the Executive has been in breach of its legal duty to agree a Budget. This prevents much needed investment in our public services to deliver the transformation and major projects that the public has been repeatedly promised.
“The best the Finance Minister could offer was a commitment to seek another meeting with the UK Government – when he can’t even be sure who will be leading that Government. At a time when the UK Government is enveloped in chaos, people want to see the Executive here showing leadership and taking charge of our own situation.
“For the last decade we have seen one unstable UK Government replace another – it is clear they are not delivering for Northern Ireland – but instability in London is being reinforced by irresponsibility at Stormont.
“John O’Dowd and his colleagues never tire of pinning responsibility for every local policy failure on the UK Government, yet are again outsourcing responsibility to that same British Government at a time of extreme political crisis.
"We support any effort to secure more funding for this place, but if the Executive refuses to take responsibility for setting a Budget at a time of huge pressures on public services, all the while shifting responsibility to a chaotic UK Government, it will be a shocking abdication of responsibility and a failure of the public.”