DUP have lost the run of themselves: O’Neill

SINN Fein has branded as “absolutely bizarre” Arlene Foster’s description of her Brexit red line as blood red, claiming the DUP leader has “lost the run of herself ”.

Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill accused Mrs Foster of being “out of touch” after the former Stormont First Minister made clear she would not support any increase in regulatory checks across the Irish Sea as a means to break the deadlock over the Irish border.

Stressing the party’s unwillingness to give ground on the issue, the DUP leader said: “The red line is blood red, it is very red.”

Mrs Foster has insisted that Prime Minister Theresa May needs to show her any new proposals on the Irish border before presenting them to the EU, and told BBC Radio Four: “I think we are selling the Prime Minister short, she understands where we are at in all of this and therefore I need to give her that space to share that information with me.”

Her comments came amid speculation that the Government was considering allowing more regulatory differences between Northern Ireland and Britain to ensure a frictionless border is maintained on the island.

The DUP has made clear it will not countenance any move that would create divisions between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK’s internal marketplace.

Mrs O’Neill said Mrs Foster’s remarks at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham showed the DUP was not speaking for the majority view here, a region that voted Remain in the EU referendum.

“I think it demonstrates once again that he DUP have lost the run of themselves,” she said.

“I think the comments themselves are bizarre.

“They are bizarre in the context that people are worried about their future, their future prosperity, their jobs, the economy, students are worried about how they are going to study across Europe, our rights in terms of the future and what that means for all of us.

“So I think the comments are absolutely bizarre in the context of the serious consequences which there are in regard to Brexit.”

“When I look at the last few days and the behaviour of the DUP in England, particularly in relation to the Tory party conference, they purport to speak for the people of the North; they do not speak for the people of the North.”