so for now, sirjeffrey donaldson _ actions. so for now, sirjeffrey donaldson will _ actions.donaldson will be _ actions. so for now, sirjeffrey donaldson will be passing - actions. so for now, sirjeffrey donaldson will be passing by l donaldson will be passing by michelle o'neill, rather than governing northern ireland with her. the westminster government says the protocol is in danger of endangering political stability and has accused the eu of being inflexible. t political stability and has accused the eu of being inflexible.- the eu of being inflexible. i think the eu of being inflexible. i think the unionists _ the eu of being inflexible. i think the unionists are _ the eu of being inflexible. i think the unionists are understandablyi the unionists are understandably concerned about the way the northern ireland protocol has been working, and we should be too because the treaty itself provides for its revision and that has not been successfully concluded, and it needs to be. it needs to be revised because it was always agree that northern ireland remained a fundamental par

sirjeffrey donaldson, the dup leader speaking. sirjeffrey donaldson, the dup leaderspeaking.r speaking. let's take stock. we are well into the second day of this count in northern ireland, so let's take stock of where we are with our ireland correspondent chris page and a warning that his report contains flash photography. applause the political ground in northern ireland is shifting. that is generating delight for new assembly members and disappointment for the party which has won the last five elections. the race for the final few seats tends to be very tight but the picture is clear. a surge in support for the cross—community alliance party and a drop in votes for the democratic unionists, and sinn fein is on course to be the largest party in the northern ireland assembly. for the first time, a party which wants to take northern ireland out of the uk is expected to be its largest political force. sinn fein�*s vice president, michelle o'neill, is in line to become first minister. no irish nationalist has ever held the post before. michelle has led from the front, so i am de

so for now, sirjeffrey donaldson will be passing by michelle o'neill, rather than governing northernestminster government says the protocol is endangering political stability and has accused the eu of being inflexible. i think the unionists are understandably concerned about the way the northern ireland protocol has been working, and we should be too because the treaty itself provides for its revision and that has not been successfully concluded, and it needs to be. it needs to be revised because it was always agreed that northern ireland remained a fundamental part of the united kingdom. but eu leaders have warned the uk it risks a trade war if it scraps the protocol. as the international impasse continues, many people in northern ireland are pointing to the dire effects of devolution standing still. hospital waiting times are the longest in the uk by far. doctors say ministers need to be in place to make vital reforms quickly. if we don't bring about change, we will be led to an unplanned collapse of the health service. if you're on a waiting list for four years for a hip replaceme

the leader of the dup, sirjeffrey donaldson, says the northern ireland protocol has left him with littleserious about getting this protocol sorted out. because of the harm it is doing, undermining political stability, damaging the agreements that have formed the basis of the political progress made in northern ireland, harming our economy, contributing to the cost of living crisis. this matter needs to be dealt with. but for sinn fein, now the largest party in stormont, it's an insult to voters, with michelle 0'neill saying the assembly should be forming an executive to put money in people's pockets and fix our health service. the dup has confirmed they will punish the public and not turn up. they are disgracefully holding the public to ransom over their brexit mess. if stormont isn't functioning, it means issues like the cost of living, the energy crisis and health aren't being tackled. we've had experience of that before, as you know. for three years. and the impact is the difficulties in making really difficult decisions on how to reconfigure and change our health service in northern

democratic unionist party leader sirjeffrey donaldson says his party will wait till next week beforeing whether to enter a power—sharing government. the sovereign government here who can make the decisions that will unlock the door to stormont is the uk government. that is absolutely clear. meanwhile, the centre ground alliance party surged — and has more than doubled its seats since the last election. good evening from belfast. it's been confirmed sinn fein will be the party with most seats it will be the party with most seats was a hive of acti' relatively it was a hive of activity until relatively recently, but the count is finished here. there are just a couple of seats left to declare, 88 of the 90 seats have been declared. as a result of that, we know that sinn fein is the party with the most seats in the northern ireland assembly. let's take a look at it. with 27 seats, no other party can now overtake sinn fein, which will be the largest party in assembly and it's the first majority nationalist party. it's the first time a party in favour of uniting ireland has come top in sto

because it was the lead at the dup sirjeffrey donaldson who throughout this campaign was the one talkinger poll and sinn fein that he didn't mention much during the election campaign but do you think actually dup and unionism is going to be best served is of a collaboration going on that as may be best served by going back into the executive that that will do more to preserve northern ireland's position within the united kingdom? yes. northern ireland's position within the united kingdom?— northern ireland's position within the united kingdom? yes, there are stron: the united kingdom? yes, there are strong arguments _ the united kingdom? yes, there are strong arguments being _ the united kingdom? yes, there are strong arguments being made - the united kingdom? yes, there are| strong arguments being made within the dup. it might be better to go back into the executive rather than michelle o'neill waiting at the altar is sinn fein's northern leader. because dup has this veto and if the dup says no we're not going to nominate for deputy first minister to devolve power scaling is potentially

so for now, sirjeffrey donaldson will be passing by michelle o'neill, rather than governing northerntocol is endangering political stability and has accused the eu of being inflexible. i think the unionists are understandably concerned about the way the northern ireland protocol has been working, and we should be too because the treaty itself provides for its revision and that has not been successfully concluded, and it needs to be. it needs to be revised because it was always agreed that northern ireland remained a fundamental part of the united kingdom. but eu leaders have warned the uk it risks a trade war if it scraps the protocol. as the international impasse continues, many people in northern ireland are pointing to the dire effects of devolution standing still. hospital waiting times are the longest in the uk by far. doctors say ministers need to be in place to make vital reforms quickly. if we don't bring about change, we will be led to an unplanned collapse of the health service. if you're on a waiting list forfour years for a hip replacement, you're already feeling the impa

in a statement this afternoon the leader of the dup sirjeffrey donaldson said his party wants actionarties so far apart, can a visit from the prime minister end the stalemate at stormont? sara girvin, bbc newsline, stormont. let's get some analysis on this now. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. lebanese officials say voter turnout was just a1% in the country's parliamentary election. it is the first vote since an explosion of a container ship in beirut�*s port which killed over 200 people in 2020 and a devastating economic collapse which has led to the currency losing 90% of its value. a former president of somalia, hassan sheikh mohamud, has been re—elected to office after three rounds of voting by parliamentarians. he defeated the incumbent, mohamed abdullahi farmajo, who he also faced in the final round of the last election in 2017. supporters greeted the result by cheering and firing guns in the air around the capital mogadishu. voting was conducted in a heavily—guarded aircraft hangar at the international airport. the controversial american preacher frank

we heard party leader sirjeffrey donaldson | party leader sirjeffrey donaldson repeat this yesterdayr—sharing executive unless our concerns over the northern ireland protocol is sorted out but, as you alluded to, one of the big stories of the selection is the vice of the centre ground and how well the alliance party is doing. isn't that a mandate for something different for politics to really function well here and do you think thatjeffrey donaldson and party colleagues in the dup will have to take account of that? i think our structures do need to take better account of the centre ground. in northern ireland politics this is referred to actually in legislation is the group called the other but it is the group called the other but it is important to note here when you look back to 1998 when the belfast good friday agreement was signed the unionist block had about 39.6% of the vote. and lastly spark had about 39.9% of the vote. —— the nationalist bloc had about 39.9%. now the nationalist bloc has 40% of the vote. there hasn't been any actual dramatic change of that. but we're actually

in a statement this afternoon the leader of the dup sirjeffrey donaldson said his party wants actiontay. so with our political parties so far apart, can a visit from the prime minister end the stalemate at stormont? sara girvin, bbc newsline, stormont. a teacher in birmingham has been charged with sexually assaulting four teenage girls. it's alleged that some of the assaults happened while muhammad taimoor was at work. emily unia told us more west midlands police say these alleged victims were girls aged between 1a and 16 years old. a 28—year—old teacher named by west midlands police was arrested last monday on suspicion of sexual assault. he was released on bail and rearrested yesterday morning. he is now in police custody. he is facing charges of sexual exploitation, sexual activity while in a position of trust and trafficking within the uk. their track charges relate to accusations he drove girls around in his car with the intention of assaulting them. he has been suspended from hisjob assaulting them. he has been suspended from his job and is appearing at birmingham magistrates'

i think it's pretty clear sirjeffrey donaldson wants to lead the dup back into the power—sharing executiverotocol. it wants the irish sea border removed and there is no sign that the british government is able to get that from the eu. so the dup may stay out of the executive for a number of weeks. they got up to 2a weeks before they have to nominate a deputy first minister or there are fresh elections here in northern ireland. so the dup is holding out, trying to use its absence from the devolved power sharing executive as leverage for change and concessions on the protocol. i leverage for change and concessions on the protocol.— on the protocol. i am sure as julian smith the former _ on the protocol. i am sure as julian smith the former northern - on the protocol. i am sure as julian smith the former northern ireland | smith the former northern ireland secretary said earlier, there is no world in which people, dup voters, sinn fein photos or whoever they voted for want to see politicians getting their pay without returning to a full working assembly well there is a cost of living crisis.

democratic unionist party leader sirjeffrey donaldson says his party will wait till next week beforehe door to stormont is the uk government.

speaking a little earlier, the dup leader sirjeffrey donaldson said his party's participation in thern ireland protocol and that a speech next week by borisjohnson would determine the dup's next steps. the sovereign government here who can make their decisions that will unlock the door to stormont is the uk government. that is absolutely clear. we all know that and we're looking now to the government to see what they are prepared to do. we'll listen to what the prime minister says after the queen's speech, after the state 0pening of parliament, that will come on tuesday. let's see what the government are indicating. words for me are not enough. it's decisive action that we need from the government. i'm joined byjon tonge, professor of british and irish politics at the university of liverpool. thanks for staying with us today. we were talking a little earlier, weren't we, about those comments from the dup leader and whether there was any that or hint of a change in position. the there was any that or hint of a change in position.— there was any that or hint of a change in position. th

the leader of the dup, sirjeffrey donaldson, says the northern ireland political has left him with littlegetting this protocol sorted out. because of the harm it is doing, undermining political stability, damaging the agreements that have formed the basis of the political progress made in northern ireland, harming our economy, contributing to the cost of living crisis, this matter needs to be dealt with. but, for sinn fein, now the largest party in stormont, it is an insult to voters. not tomorrow, and not for a moment longer, can dup deny democracy, punish the public and boycott this assembly and executive and prevent us from putting money into people's pockets. if stormont isn't functioning, it means issues like the cost of living, the energy crisis and health aren't being tackled. we have had experience of that before, as you know, for three years. the impact is the difficulties in making me dip for court decisions on how to reconfigure our health service in northern ireland and also how to establish long—term budgets and long—term funding to bring about those significant changes. for

the democratic unionist party leader sirjeffrey donaldson has said the dup will not support the electionireland assembly today. under the power—sharing rules, the speaker requires cross—community backing. the dup's move will mean that in addition to blocking the formation of the devolved government, the party will also block the assembly from meeting for debates and private members�* legislation. members are due to meet for the first time since sinn fein replaced the dup as the largest party in last week's election. but the dup says it won't allow northern ireland to have a functioning executive unless its concerns over the post—brexit trade border with great britain are resolved. 0ur reporter charlotte gallagher explained what is happening today at stormont. it was meant to be the first day of business here at stormont, but now the dup have said they are not going vote for a speaker, there is not going to be much done here. the new mlas will come in, they will sign in, and apart from that, there is very little else for them to do, because unless the speaker is elected, the assembly can'

unionist and the biggest nationalist party have to agree to go into coalition and the dup leader sirjeffrey donaldsonrexit trade border with england, scotland and wales is scrapped. whenever it comes to the overall picture, while there is no doubt a shift towards sinn fein and away from unionism would be a significant moment for northern ireland. however, the offices of first and deputy first minister are legally equal so other party say it doesn't matter who wins this election. in any case, this ballot will be critical for the very future of devolution in northern ireland and also given the importance of that brexit issue, it will potentially have big implications for the relationship between the uk and the eu. ten for a look at the weather. there are some heavy showers around at the moment. we have seen across eastern parts of scotland more central and eastern areas of england seeing that and this is the rainfall picture as it's developed today and some of these are under the mh as you can see a rash of these into lincolnshire for example in the past hour or so. they will continue to move further e

speaking a short while ago, the dup leader, sirjeffrey donaldson, said his party's stance on the northern. we need to see these issues still with the size we need decisive action to address the difficulties made by the protocol whether that is driving up the cost—of—living, whether that is the harm it is doing to businesses on our economy, or indeed, and undermining political stability in northern ireland. the protocol needs to be dealt with and we saw from people to adopt the stance, that we have taken and we continue to recognise others and also have a democratic mandate and we want to work with them to deliver stable government for northern ireland. in a press conference this afternoon, sinn fein called for the parties to form an executive as quickly as possible. the dup, but also the british government, must accept and respect the democratic outcome of this election. brinkmanship will not be tolerated. where the north of ireland becomes collateral damage in a game of chicken with the european commission. responsibilty for finding solutions to the protocol to make it a smooth implement

unionist and the biggest nationalist party have to agree to go into coalition and the dup leader sirjeffrey donaldson northern ireland. however, the offices of first and deputy first minister are legally equal so other party say it doesn�*t matter who wins this election. in any case, this ballot will be critical for the very future of devolution in northern ireland and also given the importance of that brexit issue, it will potentially have big implications for the relationship between the uk and the eu. that was chris page at stormont. the american comedian dave chappelle has been attacked during a performance at the hollywood bowl in los angeles. videos shared on social media showed someone running into chappelle. in other clips, the comic seemed to be unharmed after returning to the stage at the netflix is ajoke festival. chappelle faced criticism and protests last year when a programme he made for the streaming service was accused of being transphobic. jonathan goodwin, a man who was on britian�*s got talent in 2019 has been left paralysed — after a stunt went wrong. mr goodwin�*s fiancee says he

sirjeffrey donaldson is among the party leaders meeting the northern ireland secretary brandon lewisthis clip contains some flashing images. we wa nt we want to see this place up and running as soon as possible. we want stable devolved government and we are committed to our participation in those institutions. however as i made clear, before the election, during the election campaign at every opportunity and now post election, our position remains as it was. that is we need to see the issues around the protocol dealt with decisively by the government and we need decisive action by the government to address the difficulties created by the protocol were that that is driving up the cost of living, whether that is the harm it is doing to businesses and their economy, or indeed in undermining political stability in northern ireland. the protocol needs to be dealt with. we sought a mandate from the people to adopt the stance we have taken and we will continue as we recognise others also have a democratic mandate and we want to work with them to deliver stable government for northern irelan

the leader of the dup, sirjeffrey donaldson, says the northern ireland protocol has left him with littlee. we are serious about getting this protocol sorted out. because of the harm it is doing, undermining political stability, damaging the agreements that have formed the basis of the political progress made in northern ireland, harming our economy, contributing to the cost—of—living crisis. this matter needs to be dealt with. but for sinn fein — now the largest party in stormont — it's an insult to voters, with michelle o'neill saying the assembly "should be forming an executive to put money in people's pockets" and "fix our health service. the dup has confirmed they will punish the public and not turn up. they are disgracefully holding the public to ransom over their brexit mess." if stormont isn't functioning, it means issues like the cost of living, the energy crisis and health aren't being tackled. well, we've had experience of that before, as you know, for three years. and the impact is the difficulties in making really difficult decisions on how to reconfigure and change our healt

the: leader of the dup sirjeffrey donaldson said he had been waiting to have the sit down chat with borisrrespondent, nick beake. what is the feeling there? i think the will what is the feeling there? i think they will wait _ what is the feeling there? i think they will wait and _ what is the feeling there? i think they will wait and see _ what is the feeling there? i think they will wait and see what - what is the feeling there? i think they will wait and see what the i they will wait and see what the foreign secretary says but certainly the mood here has been one of trying to calm things down. we had a spokesman at the european commission seeing the solution to all of this is dialogue, keeping these joint i5 dialogue, keeping these joint discussions going and the eu really has said that it won't give in to what it has described as blackmail threats, the suggestion that brussels somehow i5 threats, the suggestion that brussels somehow is not taking its role seriously, that the crucial role seriously, that the crucial role of keeping peace in northern ireland and officials deny that they

focused on — frankly sick of this the only person focused on the border pole in this election is sirjeffrey donaldsonogether as neighbours, work— sit down together as neighbours, work together and sort out the problems are facing people. the future... — problems are facing people. the future... , ., problems are facing people. the future... ,., ,., _, future... the border pole, column. you keep avoiding _ future... the border pole, column. you keep avoiding that. _ future... the border pole, column. you keep avoiding that. you - future... the border pole, column. you keep avoiding that. you not i you keep avoiding that. you not listening. — you keep avoiding that. you not listening. they're _ you keep avoiding that. you not listening. they're saying - you keep avoiding that. you not listening. they're saying the - listening. they're saying the protocol _ listening. they're saying the protocol is _ listening. they're saying the protocol is harming - listening. they're saying the protocol is harming our- listening. they're saying the i protocol is harming our place in listening. they're saying the - pr

outside hillsborough castle, the leader of the democratic unionist party, sirjeffrey donaldson says he here together, we have to work together, we have to make progress together. we are up for that. we will work night and day to make that happen. the unfortunate thing is that the british government now is playing a game of brinkmanship with the european institutions, indulging a section of political unionism which believes that it can hold a veto and frustrate and hold society to ransom. that is what needs to change. our commitment to power—sharing, our commitment to working in partnership with an ever—changing michelle o'neill, she will say how anxious she is to take offers and to lead for everybody. we campaigned on the basis of establishing for a functioning partnership institutions, electing a first minister for all. when we said that, we meant that. we believe that in the current circumstances, so many people irrespective of how they voted, legitimately expect that they see functioning government now. we are committed to that. ukraine says its troops, who have been counterattackin