DUP leadership sidesteps criticism from three senior party officers who said that the Irish Sea border remains in place

​In Saturday's News Letter the party's chairman Lord Maurice Morrow, Lord Nigel Dodds and East Antrim MP Sammy Wilson published an essay which was critical of the ‘Safeguarding the Union’ deal delivered r ecently by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and the secretary of state.

• Sammy Wilson, Lord Dodds, Lord Morrow: There can be no dispute about it, there is still a border in the Irish Sea

The DUP has now returned to Stormont after a two-year boycott over the Irish Sea border, which saw NI remain in the EU single market after Brexit.

But in Saturday's News Letter the trio said they do not share the view of those in the DUP who believe the new deal has dealt with the problem.

They added that “there can be no dispute about it, there is still a border in the Irish Sea”.

• DUP sidesteps criticism from Lord Nigel Dodds, Lord Maurice Morrow and Sammy Wilson MP

The News Letter asked the party for a response yesterday, but it declined to comment.

However, deputy first minister, DUP MLA Emma Little-Pengelly, was quizzed about the essay yesterday by the BBC. Asked how stable the Stormont executive is “when your own party is so clearly divided on the way forward”, she replied that people will come to their own conclusions.

She said it was “as simple as this” – that the DUP party executive backed the deal in a vote “based on the very detailed presentation of all of these matters”.

You can read the full report on page 4 in today’s print edition or via the link above