Stormont ministers to hold urgent meeting as Finance Minister warns London takeover would be a 'huge misstep'

From the Newshound archive · first published 6 October 2026.

Northern Ireland's Finance Minister John O'Dowd has warned it would be a "huge misstep" and an attack on devolution if Chris Bryant steps in to set departmental budgets himself. Stormont has gone six months without an agreed budget, with departments operating on 95% of last year's funding under contingency arrangements. O'Dowd called an urgent Executive meeting on Tuesday so ministers can agree a joint position to take back to Westminster.

Stormont faces a shortfall of up to £1.6bn, and parties rejected London's £1.5bn offer as falling far short.

Bryant has already asked officials to draw up contingency plans after a deadline for ministers to accept his "final offer" passed without agreement.

Opposition leader Matthew O'Toole warned that a London-imposed budget would be a "profound failure of governance" and should not be contemplated.