Political talks aimed at breaking the deadlock at Stormont went ahead without any nationalists after Sinn Féin was “excluded” from the meeting on Wednesday.
The leaders of the North’s five largest parties had been due to take part in a round-table discussion with the UK’s foreign minister, James Cleverly, and the Northern Secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris.
However, shortly before the meeting was due to begin Sinn Féin withdrew after it said the UK government had informed it that its party leader, Mary Lou McDonald, had not been invited.
A Sinn Féin source said Ms McDonald, who is a TD for Dublin Central, was told she could not attend as she is elected in another jurisdiction.
Unionist politicians suggested it was due to a protocol issue, as Mr Cleverly has not yet met his Irish counterpart, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, and therefore could not meet Ms McDonald, who is also leader of the Opposition, until he had done so.
A spokesman from the Department for Foreign Affairs said the Government was not consulted and “would not have had any difficulties with such a meeting going ahead.
“Who the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland invite to meetings is entirely a matter for them.
“The Taoiseach will be in Belfast tomorrow [Thursday] for meetings with the five main parties in Northern Ireland. It is for each party to determine who they will bring to those meetings with the Taoiseach,” the spokesman said.
In a statement the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) said Ms McDonald was “not excluded” and the meeting had been “for Northern Ireland politicians to talk through issues around the Northern Ireland protocol with SOSNI [the Northern Secretary] and the UK Foreign Secretary.
“The leader of Sinn Féin in the Assembly [the party’s vice-president, Michelle O’Neill] was invited and remains invited. Her attendance is a matter for Sinn Féin,” a spokeswoman said.
“Michelle O’Neill was invited, as was her deputy, they chose not to, but it was a useful meeting,” the Foreign Secretary said.
Speaking to reporters in central Belfast, Ms McDonald told reporters it was “bizarre and unprecedented” that the British government “chose to seek to exclude the leader of Sinn Féin from a leaders’ meeting.”
There had been, she said, “a chance this morning to mark progress, to exchange views, to be constructive, to work together, to listen to each other”.
“But rather than having that kind of meeting, a kind of British Tory petulance has emerged. I think that is a terrible shame,” she said.
Ms McDonald said she would raise her concerns with the UK prime minister and at a “time where we need maximum inclusion, maximum engagement, maximum dialogue, we don’t need this kind of nonsense, we don’t need this kind of divisive, disrespectful politics”.
The SDLP subsequently decided it could not “in good faith” take part in the talks without all parties present and did not attend.
The meeting, which was overshadowed by the controversy, went ahead with the DUP, Alliance and Ulster Unionists (UUP) attending.
Andrew Muir of Alliance said his party was “profoundly disappointed the decision was made to prescribe who could attend from the political parties” while the Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie said it was a “shame” Sinn Féin and the SDLP were not present.
DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson said the matter was between the NIO and Sinn Féin but it was “better when all parties are at the table”.
A statement issued by the Northern Secretary following the meeting did not reference the controversy but said issues around the protocol had been discussed and reiterated his position that “the devolved institutions must return as soon as possible.”
[ The Irish Times view on the Northern Ireland protocol talksOpens in new window ]
Northern Ireland has been without a functioning Assembly or Executive since elections in May, when the DUP refused to re-enter the powersharing government as part of its protest against the Northern Ireland protocol.
The Northern Secretary is legally obliged to call a fresh Assembly election within 12 weeks if it has not reconvened by January 19th, though previous deadlines have been missed and extended.
Mr Heaton-Harris is not expected to call an election on that date, and speaking to reporters afterwards Mr Donaldson cast further doubt on the likelihood of a swift poll, saying: “I don’t believe that arbitrary deadlines achieve much in terms of negotiations of this nature. Surely we’ve learned from the past that setting arbitrary deadlines is not the way.”
He added that he was “encouraged” by comments from Mr Heaton-Harris and Mr Cleverly, who were “clear that we’re not working to timetables, we’re not working to deadlines”.
Describing the conversation as a “useful discussion”, he said he was “struck by the language used” by the UK foreign secretary and the Northern Secretary “that they talked about getting a deal that works for everyone ... they recognised that a deal with the EU that doesn’t work for unionists just isn’t going to fly”.
In a press conference following the meeting, the Foreign Secretary said the UK government was “listening” to the DUP’s concerns and “we want to address those.”
Asked whether the issues around the protocol could be resolved in time to restore the Stormont institutions ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement, Mr Cleverly refused to be drawn but said he wanted to “get this done as soon as possible” but he did not want to “rush it artificially, I want to make sure that we get it right.
“One of the things that I’ve heard from both politicians and businesses is they want stability, they want predictability and they want a resolution which will last.
“Obviously we want to do it as quickly as we can but we’re not setting any artificial deadlines but of course we are also working intensively to get a resolution.”
Earlier this week the European Union and UK reached agreement on post-Brexit data-sharing which will allow the EU access to real-time data on goods moving from the UK into Northern Ireland.
