DUP MLA dubs Michelle O'Neill's comments on collapsing Stormont 'a laughable distraction'

DUP South Antrim MLA Trevor Clarke was speaking after the Sinn Fein First Minister was quoted as saying that walking out of power-sharing would prove “disastrous”.

There have been a number of interruptions to the government of Northern Ireland over the last decade, with most of the period of limbo down to Sinn Fein.

In January 2017 Sinn Fein walked out of government.

Ostensibly this was because of the RHI scandal, but its price of re-entering government was an Irish langauge act.

Stormont stayed down until January 2020.

It then collapsed again in February 2022 when the DUP walked out in protest at the Irish Sea border, and remained down until February 2024.

Ms O’Neill delivered a speech at a hunger strike commemoration on Sunday in Ballina, Co Mayo, during which she said Sinn Fein walking out of government would mean handing power to the Labour government in Westminster, which she was not prepared to do.

During the Sinn Fein-initiated period of the Assembly being in abeyance, Northern Ireland’s budget had been set by the Tory government.

In her speech, Michelle O’Neill described the “challenges” of being in Government with people who are “fundamentally opposed” to power-sharing and to “rights and to equality”.

Her comments came following speculation around the stability of the devolved institutions following comments by Sinn Fein senator Conor Murphy at the end of July that powersharing was in a “precarious place”.

He also stated that the DUP “don’t have the political will to make it work”.

In her speech, Ms O’Neill said: “Sinn Fein is not walking away.

“Walking away would mean handing control of our public services over to British government ministers.

“That would be disastrous and Sinn Fein is not going to do that.

“So, despite the challenges of being in an Executive with people who are fundamentally opposed to power-sharing, to rights and to equality, Sinn Fein will continue to do all we can to move forward, to overcome the obstruction and deliver for people in the here and now.

“We are also very clear – the only way to fully deliver rights, equality, respect and inclusion is through a new and a united Ireland.

“Every sectarian, partisan or divisive action taken by the DUP, calculated to provoke and annoy, actually becomes another argument for Irish unity.”

Mr Clarke reacted by telling the News Letter: “Michelle O’Neill’s sudden concern for stability is laughable and impossible to take seriously.

"Sinn Fein collapsed Stormont for three years over its Irish language demands and continues to destabilise Northern Ireland through its relentless campaign for a divisive border poll.

"This latest intervention is a distraction from the failures of Sinn Fein ministers.

"Michelle O’Neill would rather blame unionists than explain why her party’s own climate legislation has hampered vital infrastructure projects such as the A5.

"Stable government requires a focus on delivery, not perpetual constitutional agitation.”

Sinn Fein was invited to respond.