BRITAIN’S Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said yesterday that snap elections to the Stormont assembly are still likely despite unionists trying to buy their way out of the crisis.

He spoke after Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Communities Minister Paul Givan reversed his cut to a £50,000 bursary scheme for children to visit the Irish-speaking regions of Ireland.

The outgoing deputy first minister, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, accused the DUP of “crude and crass bigotry” towards Irish-speakers in his resignation on Monday, which was prompted by DUP First Minister Arlene Foster’s refusal to quit over the £490 million Renewable Heat Incentive fiasco.

Traditional Unionist Voice party leader Jim Allister asked: “Why was the money not there before Christmas but suddenly available when the DUP are desperate to avoid an election? Did he find it down the back of a boiler?”

Communist Party of Ireland (CPI) chair Lynda Walker called the £50,000 “a drop in the ocean compared to the £200,000 given to loyalist flute bands.”

Mr Given has also said mitigation payments to support households losing out under the bedroom tax imposed by London cannot be paid without the approval of the now-paralysed executive.

But Sinn Fein Finance Minister Mairtin O Muilleoir insisted that Mr Givan did have the authority.

Irish Congress of Trade Unions assistant general secretary Owen Reidy lambasted all sides in the assembly over the threat to the payments.

“None of these parties have the right to hold hostage the incomes of 34,000 poor people to make a political point in a completely unrelated dispute,” he said.

We need your support to keep running. If you like what you read please donate by clicking here