Justice Minister Naomi Longs says 'unacceptable' that army was refused a recruitment stall at jobs fair in Londonderry after objections by Sinn Fein and SDLP

The Alliance party leader was speaking out after a row between DUP leader Gavin Robinson and First Minister Michelle O'Neill over the issue.

Derry and Strabane Cross Border Job Fair is held annually by the Department for Communities (DfC) with council support, and took place on Tuesday in the Foyle Arena Leisure Centre in Londonderry.

But just days before it was to take place, Sinn Fein, SDLP and independent nationalist councillors strongly objected to a planned army recruitment stall, saying it would create a security risk and result in security alerts.

UUP and DUP councillors on the committee strongly objected, however the committee took no vote and instead provided “a steer” to the Department of Communities which was organising the event, with council support.

There was no time for a full council meeting to vote on the issue, as reported by the BBC Local Democracy Reporter service.

The Army was disappointed it was "not allowed to join" the fair and said the council was not able to offer it a stand due to "political sensitivities".

Speaking on the Nilan Show on Tuesday, DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the First Minister was not living up to her standard of “first minister for all” because of her party’s stance.

He said: "It is intolerable and it is unsustainable that it's okay to sip champagne with the commander in chief of the armed forces [the king], but to deny opportunities to the young people of Londonderry who want to engage with them”.

But Ms O'Neill said the DUP should "butt out" and let council democracy operate.

"Obviously he'd be blind to the reality of what actually happened in Derry on Bloody Sunday in particular," she said, adding that he should “butt out”.

But now Justice Minister Naomi Long has weighed in, saying the blocking of the army stall was "unacceptable" and that both the army and PSNI should be free to go to recruitment fairs in Northern Ireland.

In all her engagements with the armed forces in Northern Ireland, she said, they are "exhausted and embarrassed by being caught up in these spats on an orange, green basis".

But she added: ""I don't believe it's acceptable in this day and age that any organization is unable to go about the job of recruiting and offering jobs to anyone in the community. Just to be absolutely clear, any sense that people are not able to do that is not acceptable."

Any person "whether it be PSNI, whether it be army" should be able to go to recruitment fairs and "offer the opportunity if people want to work with them” and if they don’t want to work with them, she said “that's also a choice”.

Foyle SDLP MP Column Eastwood said it was particularly sensitive timing because a court hearing is to take place next week in relation to the prosecution of Soldier F in relation to Bloody Sunday.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons MLA said earlier this week: “This was a deeply disappointing decision made by the council. It flies in the face of the inclusivity that I would expect in any job fair. I have instructed my officials to seek legal advice on options going forward.”