NI Secretary defends Mary Lou McDonald talks move

The secretary of state has defended the government after it was accused of snubbing Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald during talks in Belfast.

Sinn Féin said she had been “excluded” from meeting Foreign Secretary James Cleverly under diplomatic protocols.

The government said Mr Cleverly could not meet her before first meeting with Irish government ministers.

NI Secretary Chris-Heaton-Harris said: “What happened yesterday happened yesterday.

“I’m much more focused on the big ticket items.

“I did extend an invite to Mary Lou McDonald for dinner, but yesterday was one of those things. We’re moving forward.”

He added that the invitation had been extended to Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Féin’s vice president, to attend the talks.

“We wanted to update the Northern Ireland parties on the [Northern Ireland] protocol negotiations; with the greatest respect, Mary Lou is a member of a parliament in an EU member state and that might not have been seen as a wise thing to do.”

Mr Heaton Harris refused to say whether Ms McDonald would he invited to future all-party talks, saying it would “depend on the protocol”.

On Thursday, Ms McDonald said “the notion of excluding any party leader needs to be scotched and knocked on the head now.

“These are serious matters, people are relying on leaders to lead and not get involved in petulant, divisive and petty politics.”

Her party colleague, Ms O’Neill, said the secretary of state should “stop with the excuses”.

She said Mr Heaton-Harris should put all “of his energies and his government’s energy on getting a deal on the protocol”.

“People are crying out for support through the cost-of-living crisis,” she said.

“That’s what we’re focused on. So Chris Heaton Harris, just stop with the excuses and the answers and get on with doing the work. “

She was speaking after meeting the Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Leo Varadkar along with party leader Ms McDonald in Belfast on Thursday.

Irish foreign minister and tánaiste (Irish deputy prime minister), Micheál Martin, said he would have had “no difficulty” with Ms McDonald meeting Mr Cleverly on Wednesday.

Mr Martin said he had received no prior “heads up” from London about the issue.

“I would have had no difficulty if Mary Lou McDonald was at that meeting,” he said.

Mr Martin was speaking at Hillsborough after meeting Mr Heaton-Harris.

Mr Martin said his talks with Mr Heaton-Harris on Thursday were “constructive and very substantive”.

He said it was important everybody remained focused on solving “the big issues” and that it was crucial to have a working Stormont executive to improve the quality of life for people in Northern Ireland. 

“Obviously both governments remain very focused on the importance of and the need to get the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement restored particularly the assembly and the executive and of course strand two the north-south bodies,” he said.

“We also discussed a range of other issues, of course the ongoing situation in relation to the talks between the European union and the United Kingdom government.

“I welcome the progress that has been made as evidenced by the statement earlier in the week in terms of the sharing of data.”

Asked about the secretary of state’s latest comments about Ms McDonald’s involvement in protocol talks, Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry said “the government needs to get over itself” and “back down”.

Mr Heaton-Harris would not be drawn on how close a deal was in terms of the protocol negotiations but said more talks would happen between the UK and EU next week.