'Mask has slipped': MLA reacts to Sinn Fein's Michelle Gildernew describing Northern Ireland as a 's**thole'

The former MP made the comments in part one of the BBC’s new podcast Borderlands, which deals with national identity and the question of a border poll.

At one point in the BBC show, during a discussion on Northern Ireland leaving the Union, fellow contributor Ian Paisley put it to her that since “you could be Irish anywhere” – including Northern Ireland – why did she need to see an all-island state?

"You can,” she replied.

“But the six counties is a s**thole, like.

"That’s the problem. This country doesn’t work.”

This was greeted with laughter by someone around her.

Mr Paisley pointed out “you’ve been helping to govern it” for decades.

She replied: “And I did my absolute best. But the six counties on their own doesn’t work… they’ll never work.”

In response, Diana Armstrong, current UUP MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, told the News Letter: “I was genuinely taken aback by Michelle’s disparaging remarks, but as always the Sinn Fein/Gildernew mask has slipped.

"Northern Ireland is a place of beauty and opportunity, and her description would not be recognised by many across Northern Ireland.

"We’ve both been fortunate to represent Fermanagh and South Tyrone in recent years, to support economic growth in agriculture, industry and tourism and this message is an insult to all who work so hard to make this place better for everyone.

"I desperately hope she wasn’t speaking ill of our wonderful part of the world – a place that has given her so many opportunities.

"In fact, for a moment I wondered how she would describe the current-day Ireland she aspires to, where thousands of young people leave every year to escape for better prospects and lifestyle, continuing a trend that has lasted generations.

"Unlike Michelle and her Sinn Fein colleagues, I will continue to be proud to promote the success of this place and its people.”

Ms Gildernew was MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone for all but two years, between 2001 and 2024, when she opted not to stand again.

She instead tried to become an MEP for the Midlands-North-West constituency in the Republic, but did not succeed.

She is also a former MLA for Fermanagh and South Tyrone, and was Northern Ireland’s farming minister from 2007 to 2011.

The party also says “she was part of the First Sinn Fein delegation to Downing Street”.

The BBC quoted her as voicing "disappointment" that the party had ended her employment contract in May 2025.

She was "ready to do something different", she said, but "I'm still an activist and a member of Sinn Fein, I will always be an advocate for Irish unity”.

During the Borderland show, Ms Gildernew said her family have been “activists in the Tyrone area for generations”, and complained of how they were treated “by the British Army, by the UDR, by the UVF, the UDA, the LVF”.

Sinn Fein was contacted, but no response had been forthcoming at time of writing.