Michelle O’Neill has been accused of “cosplaying” as First Minister at the pro-independence summit where Sinn Féin struck an agreement with the SNP and Plaid Cymru.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the Sinn Féin vice president should not be allowed to “pretend” she was in Cardiff representing the Northern Ireland Executive.
Ms O’Neill jointly leads Stormont’s devolved government with DUP deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly and they can make decisions on policy matters and attendance at significant events only on a consensus basis, with both leaders having to agree.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald joined Ms O’Neill at the event where they signed a memorandum of understanding with the SNP and Plaid Cymru aimed at putting pressure on Downing Street to hold referendums on independence.
Ms Little-Pengelly claimed Ms O’Neill moved to clarify she was attending in a party capacity only after she had raised concerns about the circumstances of her attendance.
She said the First Minister had no authority to attend the event in her role as joint leader of the Stormont Executive.
Standing alongside Ms Little-Pengelly as he fielded media questions at Stormont, Mr Robinson said it was a “fallacy” that Ms O’Neill had participated in her First Minister role.
“The First Minister of Northern Ireland may be absent from her desk, she may be absent from dealing with the issues that face the people of Northern Ireland, including on the health service and including on good public services and the road infrastructure and water and waste infrastructure and all the rest, but there is no (Stormont) first minister in Wales today,” he said.
“The vice president of Sinn Féin is cosplaying as first minister in Wales, and there have been too many people who should know better than to run with the narrative.
“There is no majority in Northern Ireland for constitutional change.
“There is not even a nationalist majority in this Assembly, far from it, and yet the only way in which she holds the office she holds is through cross-community consent and working with people that are diametrically opposed to her.
“So we shouldn’t fall into the trap of running with the mantra. They’ve had to explain very clearly today that she’s not there in a formal capacity and, of course, it should be no surprise to anyone standing in this Great Hall (of Parliament Buildings, Stormont).
“But the deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland is here behind her desk, working on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland.”
He added: “The vice president of Sinn Féin can travel wherever she wants, but she can’t pretend to be representing the government of Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Executive, or the office Emma jointly holds.”
Welsh and Scottish FMs announce ‘new era of co-operation’
Donald Trump’s support of Irish unity ‘should come as no surprise to unionists’
DUP never ‘hitched wagon’ to Donald Trump, Robinson says
Pubs and restaurants losing business because of weight-loss drugs, report says
