Sinn Fein accuses DUP of derailing power talks

Sinn Fein has outlined details of a draft agreement it insists it struck with the Democratic Unionists before negotiations to restore Stormont powersharing collapsed.

Accusing the DUP of pulling the plug on the deal, Sinn Fein president Mary Lou Mcdonald said yesterday she needed to dispel “mistruths and inaccuracies” about what it contained.

She said the deal resolved the thorny language issue at the heart of the Stormont impasse with three separate pieces of legislation – an Irish Language Act, an Ulster Scots Act and an overarching Respecting Language and Diversity Act. Mrs Mcdonald said no consensus was reached on the region’s ban on samesex marriage.

She said the text included a review of the Assembly’s contentious voting mechanism – the Petition of Concern – and the establishment of a committee to look at the potential of drawing up a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland.

But the DUP has dismissed the claims as “propaganda”, with party leader Arlene Foster also rejecting suggestions she was over-ruled when she presented the mooted accord to colleagues, branding the theory as “rubbish”.