Fear of Sinn Fein 'entirely rational given IRA record of murder' - Poots reacts to latest Steve Baker comment blaming unionist fear of republican party for holding Province back

Edwin Poots was reacting to the comments of Steve Baker, who had been speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham.

Mr Baker was appointed to the post of junior minister in the Northern Ireland Office one month ago, under Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.

He had already earned the irritation of unionists last week by apologising to both the EU and the Irish state for not showing enough "humility" towards them over Brexit, and promising to eat "humble pie" in order to restore relations with Dublin and Brussels.

Among the unionists voicing anger about this was Jim Allister, who had said if anyone owes an apology it is the "aggressors" of Dublin and Brussels, and members of the Tory Party like Baker.

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Mr Baker told the Tory conference on Tuesday night: “I want to tell you just a little story. I went over to visit my friends in east Belfast and we went knocking on doors, and what an extraordinary reaction.

“People were so thrilled to meet a Conservative MP and have the thought of normalisation and representation, possibly even in the Government in Westminster.

“I asked one lady in particular, ‘so do you think you might vote Conservative?’ ‘Oh, well, no, I can’t let Sinn Fein in’.

“What a terrible, sad thing we’ve got to, that the obstacle to normalising politics is fear of Sinn Fein.”

Mr Poots, the DUP farming minister, told the News Letter: “He’s got a lot of learning to do to fully understand the intricacies of the situation… he will through time come to a greater understanding of NI’s complexities.

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"Having a fear of Sinn Fein is something which is entirely rational, given the fact that the IRA murdered over 2,000 people.

"The reason for using terrorism, there was no grounds for it. Sinn Fein would want people to forget about what happened during the Troubles where it’s negatively perceived, but at the same time SF politicians on a regular basis celebrate and eulogise people who actually engaged in the Troubles for the IRA.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​