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The Stormont Assembly failed to elect a speaker when it reconvened on St. Valentine’s Day afternoon and was necessarily adjourned before a proposed organ donation motion could be moved.

Separate nominations to appoint the former Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Mike Nesbitt and the Mid Ulster SDLP MLA Patsy McGlone as speaker both fell after failing to attract enough cross-party support due to the DUP’s continued boycott of the devolved institutions in protest at the Brexit Protocol.

UUP MLA Alan Chambers, presided over proceedings as Acting Speaker, during the St. Valentine’s Day recall of the Assembly.

The failure to elect a Speaker, as well as at least two Deputy Speakers, has meant that a Private Members’ Motion – in the names of Michelle O'Neill, Colm Gildernew, Aisling Reilly and Pat Sheehan – calling for the commencement of section 1 of the Organ and Tissue Donation (Deemed Consent) Act (Northern Ireland) 2022, could not be moved.

Stormont fails to elect speaker and organ donation motion cannot be moved