 stuck to its boycott of the Stormont Assembly in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol. A last-minute attempt to avert a fresh ballot failed on Thursday night as the unionists refused to nominate new ministers to the executive and end the stand-off. It means that voters in the province face having to go to the polls on Dec 15, with the contest expected to do nothing to break the deadlock. The main parties gathered at Stormont for one final attempt to get the assembly up and running again, but it was killed off by the DUP's veto. 'Remove the rubble of the Protocol' Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, said that his party was ready to end the stalemate but only once the UK Government has fixed the Protocol. 'I say to all the people of Northern Ireland that we want a Stormont that is based on firm foundations,' he told reporters ahead of the meeting. 'To do that we need to remove the rubble of the Protocol that has undermined our economy, that has inhibited our ability to trade within our own country, that has changed our constitutional status without our consent. 'A Protocol that every day is harming businesses and driving up the cost of living for every single person in Northern Ireland. I will not rest until this matter is resolved and the sooner that happens the better.'){kind=link}
Northern Ireland set to go to the polls after unionists refuse to nominate new Assembly ministers in protest over Protocol
Northern Ireland faces its second election in seven months after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) stuck to its boycott of the Stormont Assembly in protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol.
A last-minute attempt to avert a fresh ballot failed on Thursday night as the unionists refused to nominate new ministers to the executive and end the stand-off.
It means that voters in the province face having to go to the polls on Dec 15, with the contest expected to do nothing to break the deadlock.
The main parties gathered at Stormont for one final attempt to get the assembly up and running again, but it was killed off by the DUP’s veto.