Brexit comments by Taoiseach not helpful, says Arlene Foster

DUP leader Arlene Foster has described comments by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar about the United Kingdom quitting the European Union as "not helpful".

Ms Foster is due to meet the Taoiseach in Belfast on Friday.

And in advance of Mr Varadkar’s attendance at a gay pride breakfast in Belfast on Saturday, the DUP leader said he was “perfectly entitled” to attend the event.

Ahead of his two-day visit to Northern Ireland on Friday and Saturday relations between the DUP and the Irish Government have been strained over a number of issues, including Mr Varadkar's remark that Dublin was "not going to design a border for the Brexiteers".

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There was also surprise that Fine Gael Senator Neale Richmond was permitted to issue a statement issued through his party's press office accusing the DUP of "political impotence" and "whingeing" over Brexit.

Those strains were evident again on Wednesday when Ms Foster was critical of Mr Varadkar over his comments that he was “hopeful” Brexit would not happen.

"He may be hopeful, but that is disrespecting the will of the British people," she said in Lisburn. "Brexit is going to happen. We are leaving the European Union. I just hope the Republic of Ireland will continue to work constructively with us in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK because it is very much in their interest to have a Brexit that works for them as well as a Brexit that works for the UK," she told reporters.

‘Finding solutions’

Ms Foster added his comments about not assisting Brexiteers design a border were “not helpful”. She said that the Government in Dublin “should reflect on whether they are being helpful to the process here in Northern Ireland or not.

“They have made various interventions recently in relation to Northern Ireland politics. It would be better if we focused on finding solutions to what is in front of us. We want to find ways forward,” she said.

“We know there are huge opportunities in relation to Brexit and we also accept there are short-term challenges. To overcome all of that, we have to work together. The sort of megaphone diplomacy that has been engaged in is not helpful. We have to work together to get a European exit that works for everybody,” said Ms Foster.

She said she was looking forward to meeting him on Friday and would be raising a number of issues.

She offered no opposition to his plan to attend the gay pride breakfast in Belfast on Saturday ahead of the main parade in the afternoon. “He is perfectly entitled to come and attend whatever he wants. I go to the Republic of Ireland and attend events down there so he is perfectly entitled to do that here,” she said.

Ms Foster also expressed doubt over whether Sinn Féin was serious about seeking the restoration of Stormont. "Given some of the commentary from Sinn Féin over the summer it does point to me and to other unionists that Sinn Féin aren't interested in devolution, aren't interested in having an agreement with their neighbours in Northern Ireland. That is hugely disappointing," she said.

‘Shared future’

That commentary indicated that Sinn Féin was not willing to compromise or show a “willingness to build a shared future for all the people of Northern Ireland – it’s their way or no way”.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams on his return from a US visit rejected these comments and said his party was committed to striking a deal. "We would do better if we committed ourselves to making this work as opposed to these casual dismissals," he said.

Mr Adams also said he was prepared to cancel his holidays and enter into intensive negotiations now rather than at the end of the month or in early September. “I am going on holidays. I would cancel our holidays now. We would put a negotiating team in now to deal with these outstanding issues,” he said in west Belfast on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Adams also queried “whether unionism and its leaders are ready to embrace a new dispensation in which everyone’s rights are respected and promoted and defended or whether they want to cling to the remnants of the old unionist way of doing things”.