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'Window of opportunity' for Stormont reform - Long

Brendan Hughes
BBC News NI political reporter
Neil Harrison/PA A woman with red hair is standing in front of a microphone. She is wearing a green top and a large silver pendant is round her neck. A sign saying 'Alliance' is in front of her microphone.Neil Harrison/PA
Alliance Party leader Naomi Long will be speaking at her party's conference later

A "window of opportunity" exists to have a "serious dialogue" about Stormont reform, the leader of the Alliance Party is due to tell their annual conference.

Naomi Long will warn members at the event in Belfast that the power-sharing institutions remain at risk of being pushed "over the edge again".

She has written to the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin urging them to make discussions on reform "a priority".

The weekend conference is the Alliance Party's second since Northern Ireland's devolved government was restored in February 2024 following a two-year hiatus.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) had blocked the institutions in protest at post-Brexit trade rules, but ended its boycott after a deal with the UK government.

Alliance has two ministers in the four-party executive at Stormont, with Long serving as justice minister and Andrew Muir as agriculture minister.

In her party conference speech, Long is expected to say the institutions "are as stable today as they were the day before the last collapse".

She is expected to say any "scandals and disputes" over the past year could have "destabilised the institutions, pushing them over the edge again".

"And who is to say that something in the coming year won't?"

'Opportunity for serious dialogue'

The Alliance leader will argue that some others have paid "lip service" to reforming the devolved structures.

She will say that with Stormont functioning and new UK and Irish governments in place, there is a "crucial window of opportunity to have a serious dialogue about reform".

Long will again argue for changes to voting procedures and to prevent any single party vetoing the establishment of the devolved institutions.

The Alliance Party is the third-largest in the Northern Ireland Assembly and in local councils following elections in recent years.

It has one MP following the 2024 general election, after losing its seat in the North Down constituency but gaining one in Lagan Valley.

The conference is Alliance's first since assembly member Eóin Tennyson was elected as the party's deputy leader.

In October, he succeeded Stephen Farry, who stepped down after losing his seat as MP for North Down.

You can watch Naomi Long address the Alliance Party conference with live updates on the BBC News NI website from 12:00 GMT.