O'Neill accuses PM of 'shoring up DUP's bad behaviour'
Michelle O'Neill spoke after a meeting with the Taoiseach in Dublin, and ahead of talks with Boris Johnson later.
Last updated 16th May 2022
Michelle O'Neill has accused UK Prime Minister of encouraging ‘DUP bad behaviour’ ahead of a meeting with Boris Johnson later today (Monday).
Speaking in Dublin following a meeting with Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Sinn Fein's deputy leader and would-be First Minister claimed the Conservative Party’s desire to unilaterally change parts of the NI Protocol is “reckless”.
The DUP has refused to reenter powersharing until they are satisfied with changes to the post-brexit mechanism.
The protocol has meant checks on goods arriving in NI from mainland GB, and it is rumoured that the Foreign Secretary will tomorrow announce legislation to scrap parts of the it.
Ms O'Neill said: "That's reckless, the people just voted in the largest turnout in an election for many years, they voted for politics to work, they voted for the parties to get into the Executive, to turn up and do their job on day one, but unfortunately the DUP are holding the rest of society to ransom because of their actions, because they delivered us the hardest possible Brexit, so I think Boris Johnson, perhaps, is speaking out of two sides of his mouth - on one hand he is saying he wants politics to work, he wants the Executive to be formed, at the same time he is feeding the instability and economic uncertainty with his threats to go around the protocol.
"That is not how we're going to find solutions to make the protocol work. What we demand, and I think all right-thinking people demand, is that there are agreed ways found forward and I think that can be done by both the British government and the EU."
Meanhiel, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says he wants to see action, not just words, on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
"Words don't cut it for me, I need action and that's how I will judge what the Prime Minister does, not necessarily what he says," he told the BBC.
"I want his words translated into clear action.
"I will judge what the Government does and I will look at the credibility of what that is and the impact it has in terms of removing that Irish Sea border.
"I will make my judgments based on what has happened, I am not going to speculate at this stage.
"I haven't seen the Government's proposals, so I'm not in a position to say I would do a or b, but you will note that in the past we have been reasonable, we have taken proportionate action, we have sought to give time for negotiations, to bring forward outcomes. That hasn't happened and I think the time has come now for action.
"If the Government takes decisive action, then, of course, we will consider what steps we can take."
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