DUP whinging fails to hide their political impotence

The DUP’s recent response to the Irish Government has been slammed by Fine Gael Senator and spokesman on EU Affairs, Neale Richmond, who claims their whinging fails to hide their political impotence, saying they would be better off focusing on re-establishing the Northern Ireland Executive and progressing Northern Ireland’s interests in the Brexit discussions.

“Four months on from the Assembly elections, we’ve no Northern Executive; two months on from the UK General Election, we see no evidence of DUP influence on the minority Tory Government; now 15 months on from the Referendum, we are yet to see a clear vision of what the UK wants Brexit to be.

“Throughout the Referendum campaign, the DUP assured Northern Unionists that Brexit would not negatively impact them in terms of the economy, the agriculture sector or regional funding. Unsurprisingly the outlook for these sectors and many more is pretty bleak with many problems presenting.

“As the Brexit debate unfolds, it is quite clear that those who championed leaving the EU such as the DUP, and people like David Davis and Boris Johnston have very few detailed suggestions on how to actually solve the problems that Brexit presents for this island and in so many facets of daily life.

“It is therefore highly frustrating to see the embattled DUP giving out about the honesty of the Irish Government when they’ve done nothing to progress Northern Ireland’s position in the Brexit conversation despite having ample opportunities to do so.

“Since the people of the UK narrowly voted to leave the EU, the Irish Government led by Enda Kenny and now by Leo Varadkar have held nearly 500 meetings with counterparts in the EU member states, EU institutions and indeed the UK, resulting in the welcome position of Ireland being a top priority for both the EU and UK negotiating teams.

“However, the Irish Government and the EU cannot be expected to provide all the solutions in this regard, especially on areas like a proposed border which run contrary to the aims of the Irish Government or indeed the Good Friday Agreement.

“Being a good friend requires one to be honest. In the Brexit debate, Ireland is the best friend the UK has and it is only right that the Taoiseach and Minister Coveney should point out when the UK negotiating side is lacking.

“The DUP’s whinging doesn’t hide their political impotence. They would be far better off seeking to influence their Government partners in Westminster and working to get the Executive back up and running to give Northern Ireland a strong voice.”