Northern Ireland misses budget deadline as crisis deepens

Northern Ireland reached a difficult milestone on Friday when a legal deadline for agreeing a multi-year budget passed without a deal. Under the automatic mechanism, Stormont's 2026-27 spending will be capped at 5 percent below last year's level, leaving billions less than local leaders say is needed for hospitals, schools and other services.

The region's mandatory coalition of British unionists and Irish nationalists has been deadlocked for months. Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party blame each other and call on the UK Treasury to provide more funding. The Northern Ireland Fiscal Council recently said the region is not subsidized at the same level as Scotland and Wales, and closing the gap could be worth between £1 billion and £3.5 billion a year.

Newly appointed Northern Ireland secretary Chris Bryant, who replaced Hilary Benn in a reshuffle, had his first press conference before meeting delegations from Sinn Féin and the DUP. Bryant, a former Anglican priest, said he understood the financial pressures but wanted reforms, especially in hospital care, where Northern Ireland has the worst waiting lists in the NHS. He said he came "with a checklist, not a checkbook."

Sinn Féin, which controls the finance and economy ministries, has avoided decisions on raising local taxes, while the DUP would veto such moves. A multi-year budget has not been agreed since 2011. The power-sharing system, designed under the 1998 peace accord, has become unstable; the executive collapsed in 2017 and 2022. Opinion polls show both parties struggling, with the DUP dented by the June conviction of former leader Jeffrey Donaldson for sexually assaulting two girls.

There is a risk that one of the parties could walk out again before assembly elections in May 2027. After meeting Bryant, former Sinn Féin finance minister Conor Murphy, flanked by current Finance Minister John O'Dowd and Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald, accused the DUP of lacking "the political will to make power-sharing work." He warned that "the wheels could come off the wagon." DUP leader Gavin Robinson dismissed the criticism, suggesting Murphy should "tighten his nuts."