Talks walk-out: Ex-DUP boss dubs the SDLP 'Sinn Fein's poodles' as he attacks both parties over 'victimhood nonsense'

Edwin Poots described the SDLP’s decision to boycott Wednesday’s political talks in solidarity with Mrs McDonald as the act of a “copycat”, citing it as evidence that Colum Eastwood’s party has become little more than Sinn Fein’s “wee poodle”.

Mr Poots was speaking as the fallout from Wednesday’s walk-out continued, with a fresh explanation for the affair emerging from Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris.

The DUP, UUP, Alliance, SDLP, and Sinn Fein had all been scheduled to meet Mr Heaton-Harris and UK foreign minister James Cleverly for talks in Belfast that morning.

Sinn Fein president Mrs McDonald travelled up from Dublin for the talks, but shortly before they were due to get under way it emerged that Michelle O’Neill, the regional leader, was the one who had been invited to attend, along with a local colleague, and not her.

The reason for Mrs McDonald not being invited was ostensibly a piece of diplomatic custom; it was claimed that if the new foreign secretary Mr Cleverly had met with her (the leader of the opposition in Ireland) before first meeting with leaders of the Irish government, it would have been seen as improper.

Mrs McDonald interpreted this as a slight, and called it a “bizarre” act of “British Tory petulance”, while the SDLP also shunned the meeting in support, with Mr Eastwood saying: “Our peace process is founded on inclusivity. Telling any political party who they can send to meetings sets a dangerous precedent.”

But Mr Poots has told the News Letter that whenever he was DUP leader, and opted not to make himself First Minister, it was made clear to him that his access to the upper echelons of the London government would be “considerably more limited” as a result.

"There’s precedent here,” Mr Poots told the News Letter, saying Mrs McDonald’s situation was “not dissimilar to what my own circumstances were,” and that “while it might have been done clumsily, it wasn’t done to snub her”.

"They’re making something out of nothing,” he said of Sinn Fein.

"They’re just playing the victim, and there’s nothing to be [victimised] about.

"But the fact the SDLP, like a wee poodle, does exactly the same thing is no surprise.

"It’s what they do all the time, and that’s why their vote is diminishing all the time under the current leadership.

"It’s just a copycat of Sinn Fein; people say ‘Why vote for the SDLP? We’ll vote for the real thing’.

"It’s easy to create a narrative that this is some form of discrimination against Sinn Fein, and victimisation of Sinn Fein. When you actually look at the issue, it’s not.

"Sinn Fein made a whole meal of it for their own benefit, and of course the SDLP were silly enough to do the same thing.”

The SDLP responded: “The SDLP has consistently been committed to maximum inclusivity in talks, even at the most difficult times with those we most profoundly disagree with.

"We don’t intend to take advice on leadership or inclusion from Edwin Poots.”

– DONALDSON MOCKS O’NEILL FOR ‘NEEDING A MINDER’ –

Meanwhile, amid another day of political discussions today, Mr Heaton-Harris indicated there was another factor at play when they had been deciding who to invite to Wednesday’s ill-fated meeting.

Speaking on Thursday morning, Mr Heaton-Harris said: “Sinn Fein were invited, it is a shame Michelle (O’Neill) didn’t come along because it was an update on the protocol discussions.

“There are many factors which go into the thought process. One, to be quite frank, is that the UK Government is negotiating with the European Union.

“We wanted to update Northern Ireland parties on that negotiation and, with the greatest of respect, Mary Lou is a representative of a parliament in an EU member state.

“That might not have been seen as a wise thing to do.”

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson also struck a mocking tone today when he criticised Sinn Fein over the talks drama, telling the BBC: “Michelle O’Neill, as the leader of Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland, was invited to those talks.

“If we are into a situation where Michelle O’Neill can only attend meetings with UK Government ministers if she is accompanied by the leader of Sinn Fein in Dublin, if she has to have a minder with her, that has very serious implications for future arrangements in Northern Ireland if Michelle O’Neill were to become the First Minister.”

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said he hoped that all political parties from Northern Ireland would take part in future talks with the government.

“I wanted Sinn Fein to be there and I wanted the SDLP to be there,” he said.

“I’ve said this before, boycotts do not work of any shape or form. So whether it’s the DUP boycotting the executive or any other party boycotting talks, it simply won’t work.”

As for the Alliance Party, Stephen Farry said: “The Government made a mistake in terms of how they handled the talks yesterday, their position on that is not tenable.

“They need to recognise the subtleties of the situation in Northern Ireland and the reality that Sinn Fein is organised on an all-Ireland basis.

“We recognise that it is for parties, and it’s always been recognised, for parties to determine who goes to the various meetings...

“The Government need to de-escalate their language and they need to climb down and find a means of ensuring that we have proper inclusive talks at the next opportunity.”

More on this story:

• 1 – Sinn Fein talks walk-out: 'If people want to be petulant it is up to them' says Ulster Unionist leader

• 2 – TUV asks why Mary Lou McDonald feels entitled to be part of talks about NI when she has 'no mandate' here

• 3 – Unionists should catch up with others and start using human rights language more, MPs are told