Debate contribution: Windsor Framework

Debate contribution by Mr Declan Kearney on 8 September 2025.

MLA: Mr Declan Kearney
Party at the time: Sinn Féin
Date: 8 September 2025
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Windsor Framework
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5068575

Text

Those paying attention to the debate — that is, if they are not preoccupied with cost-of-living pressures or concerns about housing and hospital waiting lists — could be forgiven for being perplexed as to what this rinse-and-repeat demand to dismantle the Windsor framework is really all about. The most recent data from Queen's University's 'Testing the Temperature' research has provided a snapshot of public opinion on, among other things, the Windsor framework itself. That polling shows that 58% of those surveyed think that the Windsor framework provides "unique economic opportunities" for the North. Invest NI asserts that the Windsor framework puts the North in the advantageous position of being the only global region able to trade goods freely with both the British and EU markets.
There have been various references to the FSB in the debate to date. The FSB has also called for a pragmatic and business-focused implementation of the Windsor framework, which is in all our interests. That is why the Windsor Framework Democratic Scrutiny Committee exists: to ensure the smooth and democratic implementation of the commitments that were made in the Windsor framework. The consequence of Brexit has been to create multiple challenges, which need to be carefully navigated. Of course, none of that was ever in the thought process of the Brexit cheerleaders. Like lemmings, they simply followed the mantra to get it done. Meanwhile, back in the real world, others have worked to straighten out their mess. We continue to do so.
The fact is that the majority support for the Windsor framework across the North stands in direct contradiction to the DUP claims that are contained in the motion, so what is the motion really about? The repeat posturing of the DUP on the Windsor framework has more to do with its own electoral and political pressure, as the TUV snaps at its heels. It is increasingly obvious that the DUP's political agenda is being set by the TUV. The 2027 Assembly election beckons, and we can expect a lot more of that between now and then. In reality, the debate is simply a proxy for intra-unionist competition between those two parties. It is nothing to do with being solution-focused in the interests of businesses, employers, workers or families. Truth be told, the motion is a distraction brought to us by the very people who campaigned for Brexit and, 10 years later, are still complaining about how it has all played out. It is time for the DUP to get real. The Windsor framework, friends, is here to stay. Here is a wee word to the wise: the DUP should stop mixing up the implementation of the Windsor framework with the pressure that it is under from the TUV. Everybody sees that for what it is. It would be much better if it were to finally accept reality and join the rest of us in being solution-focused and maximising opportunities for local businesses and the regional and all-Ireland economies.

495 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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