Make your mind up time for Sinn Fein over talks involvement: Stalford

Christopher Stalford was commenting after Sinn Fein’s Northern Ireland leader Michelle O’Neill called for “meaningful dialogue” in the hope of restoring the power-sharing executive at Stormont.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Ms O’Neill accused the UK government of failing to “bring forward any firm proposals” for progress.

In response, Mr Stalford said: “Sinn Fein need to sort themselves out and stop blaming everyone else. Do they want to be in talks or not?

“They should realise by now that an agreement can only be reached when supported by both unionists and nationalists and not by republicans demanding that everyone else agrees with them.”

Ms O’Neill had said: “I called on the British government last November in meetings with British Prime Minister Theresa May and the British Secretary of State James Brokenshire for meaningful dialogue to restore the political institutions.

“That remains Sinn Fein’s position but to date the British government has failed to bring forward any firm proposals to move the process forward.

“I want to lead my party into a new executive based on the principles of the Good Friday Agreement.”

The devolved Assembly crashed in January last year over a row about the botched RHI green energy scheme.

A subsequent snap election campaign laid bare a number of other disputed issues dividing the DUP and Sinn Fein – including the contentious issue of an Irish language act.

Ms O’Neill added: “Locally elected ministers are best placed to run local public services and fight back against the threats of Brexit and austerity. It is my firm belief that this can happen soon but only if the institutions represent genuine and equal partnership government for all our people.”