Sinn Féin saying pandemic hastens a united Ireland ‘regrettable’: First Minister

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the Sinn Féin leader said: “When Brexit happened, people said this is an accelerant in terms of the unity debate, because it was so obvious with the danger to the border.

“I think this dwarfs Brexit in terms of reflecting the danger of partition, the fact that it’s not sustainable, and the necessity for us to work as one island.”

She said that deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill had “some pretty tough conversations to get the northern system in tandem with what was happening in the south” and added: “Yet again we see how vulnerable we are when we have two jurisdictions, two systems, on the island.”

At Stormont’s daily press conference this afternoon, Mrs Foster was asked about those comments. She said: “I think the most important job for me as First Minister of Northern Ireland is to protect lives, save lives, make sure that our National Health Service, that British institution, is not in any way overwhelmed by what is going on.

“So, I do think it is regrettable that other leaders are interested in constitutional navel-gazing.”

However, standing beside Mrs Foster, deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill insisted: “It’s not a political point...I just think it makes good sense to have an all-island approach to this”.

UUP leader Steve Aiken said that Mrs McDonald’s comments were “shameful” and distracted from the focus of the Health Minister who is attempting to communicate that the public must not be complacent about social distancing.

Last week Sinn Féin junior minister Declan Kearney claimed in an article for party newspaper An Phoblacht that some unionists were putting “corporate greed over public welfare” in wanting the lockdown relaxed.

Mr Aiken said: “It’s utterly shameful that Mary Lou McDonald should seek to use this public health emergency to attempt to create selfish political opportunity in a crisis to advance Sinn Fein political ideology, following hard on the heels of Declan Kearney`s ill-judged comments.

“Every single death is a tragedy. Comparisons by some pundits and politicians presented as if it’s a competition in death are utterly grotesque. It isn’t helpful, especially as data is not always comparable and not all measure from the same point.

“This is the first wave of a potentially multi-wave pandemic that we are only seeing the beginning stages of.”

The South Antrim MLA added: “Using the tragic death of many hundreds of people, especially the most vulnerable in our society, as an opportunity to score political points is perverse. The peer-reviewed epidemiological history of this will be written in years to come, not by pundits and politicians taking skewed snapshots to score political points.”

However, Sinn Féin MP Chris Hazzard responded by highlighting a tweet from Mr Aiken earlier this month in which he said that Northern Ireland receiving £912 million from the Treasury in a matter of weeks “is as strong as [sic] message as possible for our continuing United Kingdom”

He asked Mr Aiken: “Was this tweet from yourself ‘shameful Steve? Why the double standards for those advocating union with London and those advocating reunification with Dublin?”

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